


Young Justice: Under Watch

by RealDone_Universe



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Action, Complete, F/M, Fanfiction, Sci-Fi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-16
Updated: 2016-04-08
Packaged: 2018-05-14 08:12:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 39,157
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5736166
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RealDone_Universe/pseuds/RealDone_Universe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Team awakens in another earth with three-quarters of their city severed off. Joining forces with SHIELD, they defend their new home from war as Hydra infiltrates governments around the world and acquires deadly weapons of mass destruction.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Lost

**LOST**

SHE GRUNTED slightly as she pried her eyes open, moving the sheets aside as she sat up and looked around. Stretching, the blonde looked at the clock and gasped, running up to her wardrobe at speeds that blurred her body. Hastily, she took a shower and got dressed, black skirt and a brown shirt, and left the room.

She ran through the hall and into the elevator, oblivious to her surroundings yet cautious enough to control her speed. Reaching the lobby, she left the building and entered the street, nearly forgetting to put on her glasses.

She stood at a sidewalk, tapping her foot as she looked left and right to see an opening in the presumed busy traffic. With a frown, she stopped and paid close attention to her environment, shaking herself out of her ingrained morning routine. Most of the cars were unoccupied and the traffic lights were off.

She walked down the sidewalk, taking in the scene as she saw the number of empty cars fill the road. A loud bang came from the next street and she ran toward it, turning at an intersection to see a riot happening. Stores were being looted and policemen were outnumbered by the criminals, being killed off one by one.

Looking around apprehensively, she snuck into an alley where she ripped her clothes off, revealing a blue leotard underneath. Tapping the 'S' symbol adorning her chest, the suit spread out into pants, fashioning red boots and a cape stretching to her knees.

She flew out of the alley, punching out a thug who'd kicked a policeman over, knocking him off his feet. The other thugs turned to her, ready to attack when they saw the 'S' on her chest and jerked back. Gripped with fear, they quickly dispersed, leaving her with the wounded policemen.

"Thanks, Supergirl." An officer struggled to his feet.

"What's going on here?" Supergirl frowned.

"We dunno." Another officer adjusted his cap. "Been reports all over of rampant crime and something …" He huffed. "Something strange, really."

"How strange?" She turned to him.

* * *

DESCENDING TO a skyscraper's roof, she frowned and shook her head, disbelief evident on her face as she moved up to its edge. The street stopped abruptly at one point, the road and sidewalk cut off cleanly as if a knife carved it. As far as the eye could see as she rose to the sky, only a quarter of the city stood at a seacoast.

"What the hell ...?" She squinted.

"Kara!" A voice called.

Kara turned and grinned as she saw a green-skinned girl clad in black tights and a blue cape fly towards her. "M'gann!"

"Oh, thank God!" M'gann hugged her. "I thought I was the only one here!"

"What's going on?" Kara gestured to the edge of the city.

"I don't know." M'gann frowned then hovered around, folding her arms. "It's like the city's cut in half or something."

"Have you found anyone else?" Kara moved up to her.

"No. I've been trying a neural link, but I can't find anyone, not even Uncle J'onn."

"This doesn't make sense." Kara frowned and looked around. "C'mon, we've gotta keep looking; there's gotta be someone else around here."

"Yeah." M'gann nodded and flew off with her.

* * *

"MAN, YOU'VE gotta be kidding me!" Kid Flash growled as he slammed the fridge shut. "An apocalypse and no yoghurt?"

"Wally, we should be asking people for answers, not looting stores." Nightwing frowned.

"Well, then lead the way." Kid Flash walked around the dishevelled store. "You should've had a lead by now."

"It's kinda hard to come up with anything meaningful when half the city's gone and no one remembers anything." Nightwing folded his arms.

"Speaking of which, isn't Washington supposed to be bigger? Cuz last time I checked, America was larger than four football fields." Blue Beetle shook a can of coke, tossing it aside.

"I just said that something's wrong; were you even listening?" Nightwing frowned.

"Yeah, what's going on here?" Kid Flash opened another fridge, drawing a growl from Nightwing.

A man fell over outside, an arrow stabbed into his chest, soon followed by a car that flung past him. Two thugs ran away in a panic as Super Boy and Artemis walked down the sidewalk, the blonde fixing another arrow on her bow.

"Apocalypse?" She entered the store. "Thought we already cleared that up."

"Lil much, don't ya think?" Blue Beetle pointed at the man's corpse.

"Got what he was coming to him." Artemis pulled the strap of her bag. "Too bad his love arrow was too literal or he'd have forced that girl into third base."

"You guys seen M'gann?" Super Boy entered the store.

"No, still trying to figure out what's going on." Nightwing frowned.

"By trying to steal from a busted vending machine?" Super Boy growled. "We need to get moving; we don't have time to mess around."

"He's right." Nightwing headed for the door. "Let's get moving, we should split up and try to find the others." The others followed him out.

* * *

ADJUSTING HER goggles, Barbara crouched as she studied the end of the street, seeing the clear edge between the asphalt and sand. Raven frowned as she looked around, purple energy exuding from her eyes as she squinted.

"There's no way this's real." Barbara stood up. "How'd the city get cut up? It's not like it's a giant cake or something. And if it did, how'd it happen silently? The whole town would've heard that."

"There's no magic involved, so I've got no explanation." Raven folded her arms. "I wonder what happened to the rest of the city … and everyone else."

"You think they're all dead?" Barbara's brows furrowed.

"It's a possibility."

"No, it can't be." Barbara sighed. "M-maybe it's another simulation, like what happened to the Team before we joined."

"We haven't even joined yet." Raven's lip quivered. "Today's supposed to have been the day we were announced and the day when some would ascend to the Justice League."

"… And no one remembers it at all." Barbara rubbed her arm. "Is everyone else okay? Are we the only members of the Team left?"

Raven closed her eyes, breathing deeply and frowned. "I can't sense them."

"Wouldn't you be able to if they're in the city?"

"Yeah. It could mean –,"

M'gann's voice came, squealing as she descended toward them. "You're alive!"

"Kara, M'gann." Batgirl grinned. "You're still alive."

"Glad we found you." Supergirl landed and embraced her. "Any word from the boys?"

"None."

Supergirl groaned. "What do we do now?"

Wind swept past them as a large aircraft descended, swerving to a landing position. Super Boy crashed nearby, followed by Blue Beetle and Kid Flash who dashed into the area. The jet's doors opened and a woman in a green jacket ran out of it, squealing.

"Oh my God, it's the Team!" She held her cheeks.

"Who are you?" Supergirl walked up to her.

The woman gasped. "Kara-El! The daughter of Zor-El, cousin of Superman and secretly fights extra-terrestrials under the DEO!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, how do you know all this?" Supergirl frowned.

"Who are you?" Superboy raised his brow.

The woman gasped. "Kent Connor!"

His eyes darted around. "Who's that?"

"Mah, it's just me; I like saying it backwards." The woman snorted. "You're the son of Superman – well, you think of yourself as one –, who's really a clone of him and Lex Luthor – pretty weird, but I'll roll with it – who has most of his powers. You were created in Cadmus –,"

Kid Flash chuckled. "This is insane."

The woman gasped. "Wally West! Kid Flash! One of the founding members of the Team! Living a normal life as a –,"

"Back up; who are you, how do you know who we are and do you know what's going on?" Nightwing frowned.

The woman bit her lip, excitement coursing in the bright pink that filled her face as her eyes roamed. "I don't know who to talk about next." She gasped. "Raven! One of the members of the Teen Titans! I _loved_ you by the way when you were just starting out back in the day. It was funny how you were so distant from everyone, but secretly had a crush on Beast B –,"

"Okay, you need to stop and explain how you know all this about us." Supergirl frowned.

The woman snickered with a wide smirk. "Oh, I know everything about each of you." She laughed. "Hours and hours of footage, thousands of articles, I know all your secrets. Your names, your families, the colour of your hair, eyes –,"

"Okay, that's enough Cher; we don't scare the kids." Phil disembarked from the Bus.

"Hey, we're not kids!" Kid Flash frowned.

"Said the guy named 'Kid Flash'?" Cher chuckled.

Supergirl laughed uneasily and moved behind M'gann. "Uh, who are you people?"

"Phil Coulson, Director of the Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement and Logistics Division, we –,"

"Well, that's a mouthful." Barbara chuckled.

"SHIELD? Really?" Kid Flash folded his arms.

"I didn't name it." Phil shrugged. "We detected a spike in YEAST energy in this location around 2am –,"

"YEAST? Who names stuff in your company?" Kid Flash chuckled.

"It's a long story." Phil sighed. "Before we get more acquainted, we need to get you up to speed on what's going on. Around November last year, a villain known as Yokai opened an unstable portal over the city of San Fransokyo –,"

"San Fransokyo? Seriously, what world are we in?!" Kid Flash shook his head.

"Mr West, will you please let me finish?" Phil frowned. "That portal opened a rift in an inter-dimensional plane called the Sparrow Dimension that caused several worlds to merge. It seems the merging has not ended yet and earth keeps enlarging as the number of rifts increase."

"Shouldn't that have some sorta mass effect or something? That should cause a black hole to open, right?" Kid Flash raised his brow.

"We're not clear on all of that." Phil frowned. "We're still trying to piece everything together cuz a portal that small shouldn't have caused this much chaos, but that's the theory we're running with."

"So, where are we?" Raven walked up to him.

"Changed Earth, a world most likely parallel to yours with combined continents and new ones popping up because of the rifts we mentioned. This's Amersia; the combination of America and Asia and you're in Los Seoul, the combination of Seoul and Los Angeles."

"Ugh, this is giving me a migraine." Artemis shook her head.

"Since you know so much about us, where's the rest of our city?" Nightwing folded his arms.

"I dunno. Like I've said, there's a lot we're yet to understand." Phil turned to him.

"How do you know us already? We've never even met before?" Superboy frowned.

"Look, we can stay here and ask questions all day, or you can come with us and we can help you find some answers." Daisy walked up to him.

"We can't come with you, we haven't found one of our friends yet." Raven frowned.

"Yeah, where's Kaldur?" Kara looked around. "You guys seen him?"

"Well, we have satellites around the world, we can help you find your friend." Daisy walked up to her.

Nightwing turned to the others, seeing their confused expressions. "Fine, we'll come with you."

"Okay, but can you keep her away from me?" Supergirl pointed at Cher.

"C'mon, I just wanna see what it's actually made of." Cher laughed evilly as she pulled on her cape.

"C'mon, Cher, let's get moving." Phil walked toward the ship.

Sharing uneasy looks, the Team followed Phil, Daisy and Cher into the Bus; the large aircraft that landed nearby. Entering the ship, they moved along the main concourse, greeted by the confused expressions of the SHIELD agents moving around in a frenzy.

"Welcome to the Bus." Phil gestured around, making Wally slap his forehead.

* * *

NIGHTWING FROWNED as he processed what he'd heard. "So, you're saying that we were comic book characters in this world until 2am this morning?"

"It appears so." Phil stood at the other end of the table, folding his arms. "It's as if there's some sorta system in play that changes memories of people after every addition to earth. Just like when our world merged with this one, most people failed to notice the difference. I'm even having a hard time remembering the fact that you were all fictional until this morning."

"Hey, why don't I get the money I made as a comic book character?" Kid Flash raised his brow.

"My memory is fading as well." Raven closed her eyes, massaging her temples. "I'm slowly believing that nothing happened to Washington DC, but … I know it's not true."

"There just has to be some kinda magic involved." Kara folded her arms. "There's no way this's all _just_ happening. What science can do something this massive?"

"Well, we're not sure." Phil shrugged.

"So, what now? What're you gonna do about all this?" Blue Beetle leaned on the table.

"The same with every other city or country that pops up; keep its existence a secret from the public."

"How can you do that?" Artemis raised her brow.

"Trust us, we're professionals." Daisy chuckled. "When earth had six billion people, we kept an alien invasion in New York under wraps."

"Earth _had_ six billion people?" Batgirl frowned.

"How many are there now?" Nightwing frowned.

"Thirteen billion estimate. We've not had the chance to send ops around to do a proper census, but it's a safe bet given our calculations. The great thing's that with our control over the internet, we can regulate what info other countries see. Luckily enough, every country that pops up seems closed off from every other in terms of economy and communication." Phil turned to her.

"So, ours is the first casualty?" Kid Flash lowered his head.

"I'm afraid so." Phil sighed. "It's safe to assume the civilians of your Washington are all dead or marooned between dimensions."

"Someone very powerful has to be behind this." Raven frowned. "This cannot all be accidental."

"I just pray that everyone else's still alive, especially the League." M'gann lowered her head.

"Same here, but moping around won't do us any good and we unfortunately don't have any time on our hands." Phil took a seat. "SHIELD's stretched pretty thin due to the Changed Earth and the Avengers, our Justice League if you will, also has its hands tied. This may've been a disaster, but some good can come out of it."

"What do you mean?" Superboy raised his brow.

"We have a facility on the coast of Los Seoul that's dedicated to studying the physical changes to our earth. It has room to house all nine of you and has full-range surveillance and access to satellites around the world, so it can be a place where you can stay for a while."

"So, you want us to work for you?"

"You had any better ideas?" Phil interlocked his fingers. "You're obviously superheroes and with the right assessment of your skills, you can work as our new and advanced STRIKE team that can aid us in our … problems."

"What problems?" Nightwing frowned.

"That's classified, unless you wanna join our little project."

Kid Flash looked around the room and smirked. "Okay, but we already have a name for our team."

"What is it?" Phil turned to him.

"The Team." Kid Flash grinned.

Phil's eyes drooped, glancing at Daisy who folded her arms. "Seriously?"

* * *

THE BUS descended on a large complex's parking lot situated near the coast, far away from a city in the afternoon. The ground opened, revealing a metallic floor that descended into the earth, cement covering the ground again.

* * *

"WELCOME TO The Door." Daisy led them into a large wooden floored room with back walls, beige furniture, a bar and a large TV in the middle of it.

"Okay, I'm outta here." Wally headed for the door.

"Come back, Wally." Artemis pulled him by his collar.

"I thought you said this was a science facility." Nightwing looked around.

"It is, but the owner of this place, Dr Stephen Cello – the man who discovered YEAST energy and inter-dimensional travel – named this place in remembrance of his time machine/portal, Project YELLOW." Daisy turned to him.

Kid Flash raised his brow and folded his arms, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Okay, let's just step back here; you do hear yourself, right?"

"This universe is weird." Daisy shrugged.

"Oh, no, no, no, no, no!" A man's voice came. "I can't have people barging in here without permission!"

A half Asian, half Caucasian, brunette-haired man clad in a 2/4 black leather jacket, jeans and boots walked down the stairs at the corner of the room angrily. Breathing heavily, he gave each of them a tennis racket and stood before them, folding his arms.

"Uh …" M'gann's brows stitched. "Why'd you give us tennis rackets?"

"They are highly nutritious." Dr Cello bit a guava.

"Why'd you –,"

"This is Dr Cello." Daisy gestured to him. "Dr Cello, this is Supergirl, Superboy, M'gann, Batgirl, Nightwing, Blue Beetle, Kid Flash, Artemis and Raven. They're the superheroes who came from the Severed City."

"It already has a name now, huh?" Superboy leaned to M'gann.

"Oh, I know who are." Dr Cello munched.

"Then why'd you act like we're intruders?" Kid Flash placed his racket on the counter.

"Monaco is a country – a state! – filled with wonder and unsalted pyjamas." Dr Cello nodded repeatedly.

"Uh, what?" Artemis raised her brow.

"Don't try to understand him." Daisy whispered to them. "The Door will be your new home and base of operations. Mac, Dr Cello, me and Cher –,"

"Hi." Cher waved as she walked down the stairs.

"Will be watching over you. Mac's a lil busy today, but I'll be your Den Mother and they'll be … they'll be them." Daisy smiled uneasily as she gestured to Dr Cello and Cher.

"An isosceles triangle does not play baseball." Dr Cello shook his head.

Kid Flash raised his brow. "Okay, but are you sure you don't all need a psychiatrist cuz anyone crazy enough to pick that guy …" He pointed at Dr Cello.

Dr Cello stared at a wall. "This wall …" He stroked his chin. "Congo has a very big chance of winning the Award for Best Actress."

"… To be a scientist leading their research in thermonuclear astrophysics is not all the way up there." Kid Flash shook his head.

"Trust me, he's a brilliant scientist." Daisy stood in front of them. "… I have been told." She laughed uneasily. "Well, you can freshen up upstairs and we'll begin combat assessment in a couple days. We've got SHIELD agents running a peacekeeping op in the Severed City and they managed to retrieve your belongings which you'll find in your rooms."

"Thanks, we really appreciate it." M'gann smiled as she walked past her.

"Just make sure that Dr Cello guy doesn't blow us up." Super Boy frowned.

"I'm sure he won't." Daisy winced.

Wally walked up to her and smirked. "Well, hey, baby –,"

"Wally!" Artemis growled and pushed him.

"Hey, I was kidding!"

The Teammates walked up the stairs and headed to their rooms, leaving Daisy and the others on the main concourse. They found their rooms easily, their names displayed above their doors and their belongings placed on their beds.

* * *

KARA UNZIPPED her suitcase, seeing her clothes packed inside along with her phone, jewellery and toiletries. Tapping the 'S' on her chest, her cape retracted and she sat down, searching for anything that might've been left behind.

Pushing her clothes aside, she came across pictures she'd printed out to stick on the walls of her room when she'd join the Team. They were photos of people closest to her: Alex Danvers, her adoptive sister and her adoptive father and mother.

Since she'd discovered that she was in another dimension hours ago, she'd never really sat down to realize what it meant. Her friends and family were all gone, most likely dead and she'd never see them again. It didn't hit her as hard until now, seeing their pictures; the last evidence of their existence.

Tears ran down her cheeks, blotting the picture of Alex as her pain bled through her tremulously. She'd already suffered the loss of her family once as a child, but a second time was like a dagger to the heart. With the memories of the Teammates slowly altering, she wondered if she'd forget who her family was.

* * *

"OKAY, FROM our assessments, I think Nightwing is the most viable candidate for the leader of the Team." Daisy sat down.

"Yeah, we already decided that before we decided to stop by." Wally shrugged.

"Okay then, let's get down to business." Daisy typed on a holographic keyboard that popped out of the white table that stood at the centre of the dim room, bringing up footage on screens that lined the walls as she addressed the Teammates. "A few days ago, a SHIELD drone was shot down over a Southeast Amersian desert outside Las Dubai – I know, weird name. The footage we salvaged showed images of a military camp set up there and we believe there's Hydra involvement. We'd have Homeland handle this, but we detected radiation that's interfering with our scans. Luckily, we've determined that it's nontoxic, but deemed it a potential threat as it might be a nuclear weapon. Your job is recon, figure out what's going on and report back to us. If attacked, eliminate hostiles with extreme prejudice. How you go about the mission will be decided by Nightwing." She shut off the screens. "You've got twenty minutes before we head out." She left the room.

"So, guys, here's what we're gonna do …" Nightwing stood up.

* * *

"THIS IS recon, so we must avoid getting caught at all costs." Nightwing's voice came on the Team's comm. units. "KF, Supergirl, Artemis, Batgirl, M'gann, remember your positions and don't screw this up."

"Roger!" The others went off comm.

Supergirl soared through the skies, her eyes roaming the desert landscape when spotted the camp a few kilometres away. It consisted of four buildings with several soldiers patrolling a wire walled compound. Swooping down to a nearby rock, she landed quickly and peeped, seeing militia nearby as she took cover.

"There're thirteen soldiers, four on the north wall and threes on the south, east and west." She went on comm.

"Excellent." Nightwing's voice came. "M'gann, move in. Everyone else, stand by."

"Roger." Supergirl crouched and watched.

* * *

M'GANN DESCENDED into the compound in her camouflaged state, lowering her hood as she looked around apprehensively. She moved up to a wall and phased through it, entering a hallway with soldiers patrolling it.

Phasing through several walls, she took in her surroundings, seeing several soldiers walking around in a frenzy. She moved into a large room, hovering close to the ceiling to keep anyone from hearing her. Three men stood before two large grey robots with yellow plated torsos. In the centre of both machines was a glowing orb held within a glass casing.

Turning to the men, she studied them, her eyes dilating in surprise. One of them, a scientist clad in grey stood closest to the robots, talking to them in a language she couldn't understand. The remaining were highly decorated Amersian generals.

M'gann frowned and spoke to the others telepathically. "You guys linked up?"

"Yeah. You've seen something?" Nightwing's voice came.

"I've checked two of the buildings and I'm in the third one. It seems like a deal's underway, a deal between Hydra and the Amersian military."

"What!?" Supergirl's voice came.

"I think the Amersian military's trying to buy robots from Hydra." M'gann frowned.

The scientist smiled and gestured to a robot. "Activate, 1216."

A robot's eyes came alight and it looked at the men before it, scanning them then quickly turned to M'gann who hovered near the ceiling. It shot an energy beam from its palm at her, hurling her through the wall, drawing a scream from her.

"M'gann!" Nightwing's voice came on comm.

M'gann struggled to her feet and looked around, seeing soldiers gathering around her with guns trained on her. She went on comm. "Ugh, I got spotted." She gasped in pain. She tried to phase through the floor but failed, receiving a volley of bullets that bounced off her skin. "I can't phase outta here." She shielded her face.

"Everyone, move in!" Nightwing's voice came on comm. "We've gotta get M'gann outta there!"

* * *

BATGIRL SHOT a grapple gun at the top of the west fence, launching over it and into the compound where two soldiers ran toward her. She tossed a smoke ball before her and tossed Batarangs into their chests that electrocuted them and knocked them out, running through the cloud that spread.

Kid Flash ran up to the gate of the compound, rushing right through it as he swerved around a guard and punched him out. He dashed up to the second soldier and dropkicked him, landing on his face as he darted off.

Nightwing climbed over the east fence, landing on a soldier with a kick and rolled to his feet. Drawing out his electric batons, he ran up to a militiaman and struck his side, smacking his head and knocking him out. Flipping away from gunfire, he shot a grapple gun onto a wall behind him, pulling himself above a soldier and landed with a knee to the nape.

Artemis struck a soldier's gut with her bow and punched him, spinning him around and using his body as a shield as a guard shot at her. Tossing the corpse aside, she fired an arrow through his chest, pulling out another one and sending it at two militiamen that ran toward her, coating them in concrete.

She ran up to the building's entrance, opening it for Kid Flash who ran in. "KF and I are entering the building." She went on comm.

"Great, now find M'gann." Nightwing's voice came on comm.

Supergirl landed with a loud thud, drawing the attention of four soldiers that opened fire on her. Shielding her face from the onslaught, she shot lasers at two of them, flying up to the remaining militiamen with swift punches to the face. A soldier trained a gun at her and she jerked back in shock, scrambling to her feet as she backtracked fearfully.

"No, no." Her eyes dilated.

"Kara, what's wrong?" Nightwing came on comm.

"It's a soldier. H-he's –,"

"A soldier? What's scary about that?" Kid Flash's voice came, chuckling.

"Oh my God, no!"

Kara clutched her head and fell on her knees, whimpering as the soldier moved up to her. With a wide grin, he shot at her repeatedly, bullets bouncing off her skin and impaling his forehead as she shivered on the ground and bowed over in fear. Sweat beaded down her face as she breathed shakily.

"No, it can't be." Her lip quivered.

* * *

KALDUR'S BROWS stitched as he pried his eyes open, his grunts muffled as he realized he was underwater. Taking in his surroundings, he breathed heavily as he took in the undersea flora around him. He swam onward.

Moving past several rocks and coral reefs, he frowned as he couldn't see Atlantis anywhere, his last memory being him going to sleep in his room. Moving over a large rock, he saw a city on the seabed domed by a force field. With a smile, he approached it, seeking to ask Aquaman how he'd ended up in the ocean.

As he drew closer, a frown crossed his face, his speed diminishing as he approached and realized that the city was completely different from his. Touching the field, he phased through it and stepped on the ceramic tiled floor, entering a small street.

Looking at the buildings whose architecture he couldn't recognise, he trod on, receiving glances from the citizens who looked at him with confusion. Like him they had gills on their necks, but their skin tones weren't human, having an underlying bluish tint. Sounds of commotion came from another street and he ran toward it, nearly bumping into a large seahorse that rode past him, its rider frowning at him.

A crowd occupied the street, controlled by guards that rode horse-sized seahorses with hind legs. The sounds of music came and he squinted at the end of the road, seeing a large palace which stood at the centre of the city. A man walked up to the balcony, smiling contentedly as a man announced him.

"We present our Lord Atuma!" The man's voice came.

"What?" Kaldur frowned.

* * *

**As always, Follow, Favourite and Review and Await the Awesomeness as we dive deeper into the universe. Thanks for reading.**


	2. Ocean Blue

**OCEAN BLUE**

KARA GROANED as she roused – the sounds of explosion drowned by the loud ringing in her ears as she sat up and looked around. Fires rose up in the distance, illuminating the dark skies and blocking out the two suns as screams and clamouring bled into the blaring silence. Her breath hitched as she moved back – her head turning stiffly as she saw a bruised arm underneath her hand.

She screamed and scrambled back, breathing heavily as she saw a man's corpse lay under rubble. She moved past shards of glass – the sharp edges cutting into her hand though she felt no pain. Turning to her right, she bumped into a dead woman and shot up to her feet, looking at her right arm. Blood oozed out of cut wounds – unsightly bruises littered around as she tried and failed to move the injured appendage.

Her breath quickened as he looked around, seeing debris spread out as far as the eye could see, touching the fiery dusk horizon. Buildings and aircraft plummeted in the distance – their sounds echoing as billows of dust rose into the air and drew close to her. Struggling to move her leg, she limped away from the cloud – pain searing through her body as she tripped and was quickly engulfed by it.

* * *

KARA'S BROWS stitched as her mind drifted off – her lips twitching and her fingers fidgeting as she held the armrests of her chair tightly. Daisy raised her brow as she crossed her arms– watching the blonde who looked to her left for nearly a minute. Tapping the table, she sent a vibration toward her, jolting her out of her daze.

"Kara! Focus, please."

"Oh, s-sorry." Kara blinked and turned to her.

"As I was saying." Daisy gestured to a computer screen behind her as she addressed the Teammates. "SHIELD'S secured the base and forensics have picked up low level radiation onsite that matches scans on a warehouse in Western Europe we raided a few months ago. We obtained a robot from that warehouse and based on M'gann's findings, it's the exact same kind. We're still unclear on Hydra's plans since they went after Maveth, but we'll have to assume they're preparing for a massive attack. We've studied the radiation and we've found that if it's weaponized, it'd have the strength of a hundred nuclear warheads."

"Oh, God." M'gann's eyes dilated.

"Which is why we have to move in before they do. We're running ops to apprehend the generals M'gann helped us identify, so for the time being, I need you to rest up and prepare for your next mission."

"Understood." Dick nodded and headed out of the room, followed by the others.

"Kara." Daisy halted her. "Can I talk to you for a moment?"

Kara glanced at the others as they left and walked up to her. "Yes?"

"Didn't wanna bring this up with the others around, but why'd you break down in front of that soldier?"

"I'm sorry; just a little off my game."

"That's not being off your game. You'd probably get spotted, beaten by an opponent that shouldn't have been a threat, but you just bowed over to a guy that got himself killed by a ricocheted bullet. Something's wrong." Daisy folded her arms.

"No, I'm fine; I just need time to get my head straight." Kara frowned.

"Well, take this time you have now to get things in order; we can't have that happen again when you face a more powerful opponent." Daisy sat at the table.

"Yeah, sure." Kara sighed and took her leave.

Mac folded his arms as he sat across from Daisy, having watched the briefing silently. "So, you think they can handle it?"

"I dunno." She shrugged. "They seem to be doing fine for the past couple days except for Kara."

"Yeah, but they just got dumped in a completely different world, cut off forever from their families and friends. There's no way they're all on board with this."

* * *

RAVEN SHUT her eyes and took a deep breath, levitating in the lotus position as she shut out her surroundings and began to meditate. Purple aura exuded from her and she sighed, opening her eyes and holding her arms out. She sent the energy out before her and wove it into a circle, sweat beading down her brow as she struggled to maintain it.

A portal formed and she panted, wiping her forehead as she uncrossed her legs and hovered into it. Shielding her face from a bright light, she entered a massive, black void with swords floating about. Swerving away from a large blade, she frowned as she looked around, grabbing hold of one of the weapons.

Studying the sword, she jerked back as she felt radiation exuding from it, that of a kind she couldn't recognize and nearly mistook for magic. It was large and curved like a kitchen knife – white on the bladed half and black on the other – with Ancient Japanese markings on the blunt side. Struggling to read the encrypted writing, she managed to decipher one word:

"Zangetsu?"

Hearing a chiming sound, she quickly turned to her left and saw a green humanoid creature shouldering a satchel open a door shaped portal. The being dove through it, entering a city in the evening and was quickly followed by Constantine and Zatanna who jumped in before the gateway shut. Raven hovered toward the spot they were when the sword flew out of her hand and shot into a portal above her.

Looking up at the gateway, she frowned as she saw a dark cave on the other side with an orange-haired man clad in a black kimono lying unconscious on its floor. A torrent of water washed over her and knocked her into the portal she came from, flinging her onto the wall of her bedroom with a loud thud. Struggling to her feet, she leaned against the door and steadied herself as she walked around, seeing the bookshelf on her left, black and purple sheeted bed set adjacent to her toy–laden dressing table.

"Hey, Raven, are you okay – whoa!" Barbara entered the room, nearly slipping on the water. "What're you doing here?"

"I've been searching the cosmos to find our world and stumbled onto this barren dimension." Raven turned to her. "I saw Zatanna there."

"Zatanna? Isn't she on a witch hunt with Constantine?"

"She was with him and they were chasing this creature who used doors to travel worlds."

"If they're still alive, that means our world's out there somewhere, right?" Barbara grinned. "We can get back to our world again!"

"It won't be that easy." Raven pulled her hood back. "The universe has been heavily altered and it's very difficult for me to pinpoint a location to travel to. I've been meditating since we arrived on this earth and I'm not sure where anything is."

"What do you mean?"

"I can't open a portal back to our earth." Raven frowned. "We're stuck here."

Barbara sifted her mind and sighed, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Well, at least you've tried, Raven. We know our world's not gone for good, so there's still hope of getting back to it. It's not over yet."

"Yeah." Raven nodded.

Giving her an assuring smile, Barbara left the room and Raven looked around, raising her arms up. Purple energy exuded from them as she swiped her hands over the floor, causing the water to evaporate. She moved over to her bookshelf when something caught her eye.

She lifted her left arm and jerked back in shock, seeing Caucasian skin slowly spreading out and replacing her pale blue tone.

* * *

BARBARA'S EYES darted across the screen as she keyboarded hastily – the light of the monitor being the only source of light in her dim room walled with bookshelves and fashioned with grey carpeting, curtains and sheets. Shaking her head, she sat back and sighed as she looked at her laptop, reading documents on the Big Hero 6 when a knock came at the door.

"Barbara, it's me, Dick." His voice came from the hall.

"Come in." She swivelled to him as he entered.

"What're you doing?"

"Just doing some research – wanna know who we're working for." She turned to the laptop.

"Well, it's our day off – we could use a break." He sat next to her. "Why don't we go out and –,"

"Watch TV? Have a drink? Done so much of that, it's amazing I don't smell like a distiller." She sat back. "No way we're getting outta here without raising suspicions – this place is heavily fortified."

"You're hacking into SHIELD?"

"Could only get info on The Door. Read that Daisy was a tech whiz, but this's insane." She folded her arms.

"You shouldn't be doing this Barbara; these people work for the government."

"Not since 2014 when it officially collapsed and their former Director Fury died in the fray." She frowned. "They've told us very little since they enlisted us – kinda feel trapped here."

"What do you expect? We just dropped on their planet unannounced – for all they know, we could be aliens."

"They've already covered that. They have this list of Meta humans and extra-terrestrials called the Index and Connor, Wally, M'gann, Raven and Kara are on it. The people listed are either made agents of SHIELD or put down."

"Look, stuff like this will make them trust us less than they do." He reached for the keyboard and she held his hand.

"I just wanna do something more constructive than …" She frowned.

She let go of his hand and he looked at her, her bloodshot eyes etching a frown on his face as she looked down. Rising from his seat and placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder, he took his leave, shutting the door behind him as he trod down the hall. With a heavy sigh, she looked into her hand and fingered a locket – the picture of her father held in its centre.

* * *

DICK ROAMED the halls of the Teammates' dorms, is eyes fixed before him as he headed for the stairwell when whimpering met his ears. Moving up to its source, he stepped back and frowned – Kara's bedroom door standing before him – as the crying continued. Walking down the stairs, he entered the living room where Connor and M'gann watched TV across from him – both barely paying attention as they stared off into space.

"I'm gonna take a walk." Connor groaned, rising to his feet. He glanced at M'gann, seeing her downtrodden expression and headed for the door – shaking his head.

"Connor, we're not allowed to leave the building." Dick stood in his way.

"I need to clear my head – it's too stuffy in this goddamn place." Connor frowned.

"We have our protocols, Connor; we agreed to work with SHIELD and that means staying in this facility unless we're going on a mission."

"Get outta my way." Connor pushed him aside.

"Look, I know you feel restricted, but you're only gonna make things worse." Dick followed him. "The situation with SHIELD –,"

"Hasn't been explained to us!" Connor turned to him. "Sure, worlds have merged and we're outsiders, but that's all they've told us. I've hidden my powers for _years_ now; I know what I'm doing."

"What's going on here?" Daisy moved down the steps.

"I'm going to take a walk; need the fresh air." Connor turned to her.

"I thought we already talked about this – you're SHIELD agents; your identities are secret from now on. You're not allowed to leave this building." Daisy walked up to him.

"So, what? We're stuck here indefinitely?"

"… Until we can find an alternative – yes."

"Look, I had a life outside the Team; we all did. You can't just expect us to throw that all away just because we work for you."

"Wake up, Connor; your lives were all gone the moment you ended up here." Daisy frowned. "We can't risk the public knowing who you are."

"If I take a walk? I've been keeping my identity a secret since the day I was born; I know what I'm doing."

She raised her brow then shook her head. "Look, it's not that you can't keep your identities a secret; it's that it's impossible to do so. Cher recognized all of you the moment we landed – what if someone else spotted you and then threw it online? There'd be no way of keeping that under wraps, but we only do that if you stay here."

"So we stay here permanently? Is that it?" His brow rose. "We're not your personal lap dogs you can just order around –,"

"No, you're not." She moved up to him. "But when you're in SHIELD, you have to make sacrifices. I swore an oath – we all did – to protect the world against the much weirder world and in case you haven't noticed, it just keeps getting weirder. We don't know how big this phenomenon is and cities, countries, _continents_ keep popping up and it's hard to keep up with as it is. Places from other dimensions, the past – maybe the future – are arriving and any interaction between them and us is knocking on the door of a world war. We have people that control elements with their mind in Republic City, people that control the weather in Arendelle – we have aliens that can rip a nuclear warhead in half and shrug off the fallout in West City; we're barely handling it all!" She looked around as the others converged due to the argument then turned back to Connor. "So sure, leave the facility, break through the walls – see whether we can stop you or not – but realize what'd happen if you were spotted, if we were discovered, and be ready to pay the consequences."

Daisy glanced at the others then headed out of the room, moving past Jaime who stepped aside and turned to Connor who groaned in response and took a seat. He looked around the room, seeing Dick's stern face as he scanned everyone else – Kara and Barbara's expressions nearly matching as they both had bloodshot eyes, Artemis showing irritation as she unfastened her fighting gloves, Wally exhibiting curiosity as he watched the others, Raven casting a concerned gaze and M'gann staring off into space, disconnected from everything else.

"Look, guys, I know none of us expected this to happen, but it has and, for the moment, there's nothing we can do to reverse it." Dick stepped forward. "But, let's not give up hope and throw everything away because of what's happened."

"Dick's right." Raven turned to the others. "I've been searching the cosmos and everything's been displaced, but our world's still out there. I saw Zatanna and Constantine and if they're still alive, everyone else is to."

"You did?" M'gann's face lit up and she turned to her, receiving a nod.

"It's not over guys. It only is if we give up." Dick smiled determinedly. "We work and risk our lives to save others and we have the chance to do that here. Let's work together with SHIELD and along the way, we'll find our world and return to our loved ones."

* * *

KALDUR'S EYES darted around as he donned a cloak, emerging from a marketplace as he entered a street in the underwater city. Having failed to establish communication with the locals in Atlantean, he resorted to English and managed to purchase some clothing. Roaming the area, he struggled to come to grasp with how everything felt similar, yet so different and alien.

His home and this city, though sharing the same name and similar ethnicity connected to Ancient Greece, differed greatly as he soon learned while encountering the locals. The people didn't live in water, but in a dome that kept water out and their skin had a blue tint to them. Trying to avoid suspicion, he donned some of the more common attire, making his way down the street toward the castle. If there was anyone who could explain to him what was happening, it would be King Atuma.

Manoeuvring through a packed sidewalk, he glanced at the guards – each garbed in yellow and blue armour – that roamed the area on sea horseback and patrolled different street corners. Studying the city, he sensed an atmosphere of fear as people avoided the soldiers, though very subtly, and avoided eye contact. Heeding the unspoken warning, he immersed himself into the crowds when a guard called:

"Hey, you, come over here." He rode toward him.

"You called me?" Kaldur saluted to him – a fist on his forehead. "Is something wrong?"

"You are an outsider, aren't you?"

"My apologies; I was heading to the palace to officially announce my visit to the King. I am from the neighbouring kingdoms."

"Hmm, it is unfortunate that you did not have an escort to show you our ways, traveller." The guard rode on. "Follow me. The king always welcomes guests."

"I am much obliged to meet him." Kaldur followed.

* * *

KALDUR STRODE into the large purple foyer of the castle, pillars with Atlantean symbols encircling the expanse and leading up to a massive statue of Atuma which reached up to the ceiling, standing before a large staircase. The guard led him up the steps to a massive throne room, floored in chrome and walled in gold, converging on a large cathedra which Atuma sat upon with servants standing around him.

"Your Highness, my name is Kaldur'ahm, I found myself in your realm and I seek audience with you in order to find where I am because I'm Atlantean and this is nothing like my home."

"I expected your arrival, outsider." Atuma rose from his seat. "Did your fake king send you here to spy on us?"

"Fake King? Your highness, I am no spy –,"

"Is something a spy would say." Atuma frowned. "Seize him!"  
Several guards converged on Kaldur and he drew his Water-Bearers form his Water Pack, weaving out hammers. Smacking two assailants, he flipped back and created whips, wrapping it around a guard and slamming him onto another. A soldier came from behind and blasted him in the back with a sonic cannon, knocking him unconscious.

* * *

KALDUR GRUNTED as he came to and met the cold steel of the large chair – restraints wrapping around his feet and ankles – with guards standing guard on either side of a door. Breathing heavily, he frowned as he looked around, glancing behind him as he saw the darkness of the water beyond the glass dome peak into the small window in the room.

He turned onward and sighed. "I should've seen this coming."

Atuma entered the room, walking up to him. "Tell us your purpose, Kaldur'ahm?

"I have told you who I am; I'm an Atlantean, like you, your highness."

"Atlantean? Your skin is nothing like ours and you came from the outside." Atuma moved up to him. "Are you a spy sent by King Orin to infiltrate my kingdom?"

"How do you know of King Orin?"

"You are the one being questioned here, outsider."

"No, but I seek to return to my home, _my_ Atlantis."

"Only one Atlantis exists and any other is a gathering of imposters aiming to steal the glory of my people."

"There has been a misunderstanding, your highness." Kaldur fidgeted. "I laid down to rest two days ago and awoke in the middle of the ocean, outside my kingdom. I stumbled into this place, mistaking it for my home and unknowingly intruded. The greatest of apologies, your highness."

"I have no time for apologies, outsider." Atuma paced around him. "You infiltrate my city, hide amongst my people and come under the aegis of King Orin. I cannot let such acts go unpunished." He turned to a guard who handed him his sceptre.

"So much for diplomacy." Kaldur sighed.

Electricity shot out of his eel tattoos, zapping Atuma and the guards and knocking them off their feet. Jumping up, he summoned his Water Bearers and slashed through the restraints, freeing himself. Shooting his arms forward, he pulled water through the glass barrier, shattering it and flooding the room.

Getting his footing in the torrential onslaught, Atuma turned to his men. "Seize him!"

Kaldur swam out of the glass barrier and turned to see the guards tailing him. Slamming the hilts together, he forged a wall around the hole, blocking the dome and swam onward. Reaching a nearby reef, he panted as he sheathed his weapons and looked around, his eyes dilating as he saw large, underwater ships docked outside the city with Lex Corp logos adorning their sides.

* * *

WALLY DASHED toward a table, grabbing a marker as he wrote down Quantum calculations on a large board. Traversing the expansive lab fashioned with white walls and cluttered with workstations with several machines atop them, Dr Cello keyboarded on his computer, bringing up a video uplink on a large screen before him.

"Dr Stephen Cello, it's good to finally meet you." A brunette-haired woman's face came onscreen.

"Dr Foster, it's quite an honour." Dr Cello walked up to the screen. "This is Wally West, one of new entries to our crazy universe."

"Hey." Wally ran up to the screen. "What do I call you apart from beautiful?" He leaned on a table, slipping off it as he bumped into a coffee cup.

"Fancies himself as some kinda scientist." Dr Cello turned to him. "But, if you ask me – not all that convinced." He whispered to Jane.

"Hey, look at the board!" Wally gestured the board behind him. "I've done some serious work into String Theory and Dark Matter."

"For what is Dark Matter without milk?!" Dr Cello shot his fist upward, gaining a confused look from Wally.

Jane shook her head. "Anyway, have you had any breakthroughs in your research?"

"None, yet, other than spikes in YEAST energy popping up in several locations on earth." Dr Cello took a seat. "Based on scans, there should be several large portals around, but we've found nothing. Even when the Severed City appeared, there was no trace of a portal opening."

"Well, that's strange given how the whole world saw the portals opening during the Convergence –,"

"Jane! Where are ya?" A woman's voice came in the background.

"Not now, Darcy; I'm busy!" Jane yelled.

"Well, no need to get snappy with me!" Darcy came on screen. "Just wanna keep you from turning to skin and bone with all the work you've been doing." She munched on toast. "Thor wouldn't wanna tap that anymore."

"Okay, bye!" Jane pushed her off screen.

"You're still on that theory?" Dr Cello raised his brow.

"It makes far more sense than a small portal in the middle of a city." Jane frowned. "The data just doesn't add up. There's no way a portal that small could cause something so drastic. During the Convergence, the walls between worlds were non-existent, gravity went outta whack, spacial extrusions; the very fabric of reality was torn apart. There's no way a portal that at most can only suck in a city block could be responsible for it."

"But the Trade Federation on Naboo is very important!" Dr Cello held his fist before him.

"I-I don't know anything about that." Jane's eyes darted around uneasily.

Wally raised his brow then shook his head. "Maybe there's something bigger at play here; like someone's playing a cosmic game of chess with the universe." Wally walked up to them. "I've been reading up your files and all these instances can't be coincidence. Just look at the dates here. November 2013, the Convergence happened, November 2014, the Sparrow Dimension was opened and in 2013, several speedsters all came to the present day – on March 29th, 2015, a black hole opened in Central City. The timing is too perfect and they could all be the cause of the merging of worlds. The use of the Speed Force has greatly increased in those years and with several portals opening up in our world, they were most likely the culminating effects of all these events."

"So, you're saying someone caused all this?" Jane frowned.

"I'm not sure, but it's all packed too neatly if you ask me. All these cosmic level events happen within a short space of time? It's too much for me to call it a coincidence." Wally folded his arms.

"Well, I've gotta go." Jane keyboarded on her computer. "I'll compile the data and see if I can find some proof to your theory, kid." She logged out.

Dr Cello sifted his mind and turned to Wally. "You know what, kid?" He frowned as he walked up to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "With a mind like that, you should be a chef!"

"What?" Wally raised his brow.

"I've been running scans on all of you since your arrival and the residual YEAST energy signatures have all subsided from everyone except you, Wally." Dr Cello stepped back. "Your body has astounding amounts of the energy that I'm amazed a portal doesn't open right now."

"What do you mean?" Wally looked at his hands.

"Wally, I think you could be the key to unlocking the mystery of the merging of worlds."

Wally frowned and thought hard when Nightwing barged into the room. "Wally, we've got a situation."

* * *

"WELL, I hope your little break has been useful, cuz it's time to get back to the field." Mac pulled up a map of Amersia as he addressed the Team in the briefing room. "A military base in Aomori Nevada –,"

"Okay, what?" Wally raised his brow.

"Yeah, you'll never get used to it." Mac shook his head. "We got a distress call from Area 52 seeking SHIELD assistance when one of their missile silos launched on its own and sent a nuke toward Russweden. Several missiles systems are activating as we speak and if we don't stop them, we'll have a nuclear event that'd make Nagasaki look like a firework. The nuke's ETA is 2 hours and you need to get there and stop it from landing in Russweden and stop the other missiles from launching. Daisy will accompany you on your mission and help you stop the launches."

"Okay, Team, let's move out." Daisy rose from his seat.

* * *

A QUINJET DESCENDED on a military base, soldiers and guards running in a frenzy as sirens blared and red lights flashed. The ship landed and the Teammates disembarked, running onto the base. A general walked up to them, looking at the heroes in confusion then turning to Daisy.

"I'm Agent Johnson, we received your distress call and we're here to help." Daisy walked up to him.

"General Daniel Grievous." The man gestured to the building. " Follow me."

* * *

"THE MISSILE launched at eighteen hundred hours on a direct course with Mos Warburton and will hit in 90minutes. It's hard to track as its stealth tech was made to slip under radar and with our systems out of whack; we're unable to disable it." The general led them into a control room, standing before a large screen with a map. "It should be within this radius in the Atlantic Ocean." He pointed at the screen.

"Okay, I'm on it." Supergirl headed for the door.

"Are you sure about this after what happened last time?" Daisy stood in her way.

"Yeah, I've got it under control." She nodded and flew out of the room.

"Okay, we'll take it from here, General." Nightwing moved up to a computer then turned to the others. "Barbara and I will try to get the missile systems back online." He took a seat and began keyboarding. "Try to find ways to stop any that begin to launch and disable them before they leave the base. These're the locations of the missile silos." He pulled up a map of the facility. "Split into groups of two and take them down."

"On it." Kid Flash nodded and dashed off, followed by Blue Beetle, Raven, Artemis, M'gann and Superboy. He turned to Artemis. "You know, I don't think I'll ever get used to the names in this world."

"I try not to ask questions." Artemis drew an arrow and ran down a hall with Superboy.

Glancing at Batgirl and Daisy who sat on either side of him, Nightwing keyboarded and went on com. "Mac, I'm sending you the projected path of the missile and Supergirl's coordinates. Need you to run tactical and help her find the ballistic in time."

"Got it." Mac's voice came on the other end.

Daisy frowned as she worked, looking at the lines of code streaming down before her. "Whoever's pulling this attack's got some skill."

"Thought you'd be able to handle it." Batgirl glanced at her.

"Hacked into SHIELD several dozen times before I joined and I've dealt with Hydra, but this's way more than I've ever faced."

"This coming from the person that made me look like an IT noob? We're in a lotta trouble."

"I've never seen algorithms like this. It's like its constantly adapting." Daisy's eyes dilated.

"Let's hope the guys can stop the missiles before we crack this thing." Nightwing frowned.

* * *

FIRING AN arrow onto the side of the missile, Artemis strapped her bow on and walked along the platform surrounding the silo, raising her head to the ceiling to see the doors closed. Turing to her left, she saw Superboy standing across from her, leaning against the wall and folding his arms as he looked around.

"So, you think those'll work?" He raised his brow. "Don't think those little arrows have enough explosives to destroy that thing."

"Don't underestimate C4." She smirked. "It's more of a last measure if you aren't able to ground this thing when it starts off and Supergirl fails to bring it down as we track it."

"You think they're gonna fail to bring the systems back online?"

"The sirens are still going off." She fired another arrow on the missile and headed for the door. "I'll go put these on the others."

Superboy frowned and looked at the missile, seeing the arrowheads flickering as they littered around its side. A beeping sound blared and the blast door began to open above – the moonlight shining into the once dim structure.

"Oh, crap." He clenched his fists.

* * *

M'GANN'S EYES glowed as she spread her arms apart – the metal plates of the missile's rockets detaching from the warhead as it rose vertically toward the blast door. Crossing his fingers, Wally watched as she wove her hands around, moving the warhead onto the floor whilst placing the thrusters to her right on the platform.

Wally sighed. "Phew, good thing you didn't drop that."

"It's a good thing you were right about how this missile was built." She wiped sweat off her brow. "Wasn't planning to comparing my durability to those aliens from West City."

"Hopefully, we could recruit them on our side." He smiled. "If they aren't bad guys that is."

"Yeah." She turned to the thrusters. "At least the missile won't be going anywhere even if the launch sequences happens."

"Yeah." He tapped the thrusters then looked around. "I'll go check on the others." He dashed off.

* * *

"OKAY, I'VE arrived over the ocean." Supergirl flew over the ocean in the early morning – looking at the dim skies.

"Good, update us when you see the missile; we only have an hour before it hits the city." Nightwing's voice came.

"I won't let that happen." She frowned, bursting forward with a sonic boom.

* * *

"WHAT'RE WE supposed to do now?" Blue Beetle's eyes dilated as the missile thrusters ignited.

"I'll have to stop it." Energy exuded from Raven's eyes.

"But the exerted pressure could damage it! We'd have a leak inside the building!" He held the sides of his head.

"Guess I'll have to be careful." She held her hands before the missile – the light glinting off her hood as the blast doors opened.

Purple energy shot out of her hands and spread around the missile, moving down its sides and over its thrusters, impeding it as it ascended. Wrapping around the exhausts, the fire ceased and the weapon came crashing down – worry dilating her eyes as the warhead grazed against the wall.

She moved it to the right, leaving the thrusters open and allowing it to shoot towards the blast door – banging against the platforms in its ascent. Creating sonic cannons, Blue Beetle blasted the thrusters and destroyed them, letting it crash against a platform and smack onto the floor – sparks shooting out from below.

"What did you do?" She frowned and shot down to the missile.

"I needed to stop it or it'd take off!" He flew up to her.

Kid Flash ran into the room and looked at them as they descended to the missile – smoke rising from its dismantled plating. "Oh, man, what happened?!" He dashed up to them.

"The missile began to launch and we had to stop it." Raven turned to him.

"Well, let's hope you haven't damaged the warhead." Kid Flash sped around the missile then stopped. "Oh, man!"

"What is it?" Blue Beetle landed.

"You armed the warhead and it's gonna detonate!" He ran up to it and began typing on the keypad. "It's pretty damaged." He looked at the depressions around the missile then keyed in faster. "We've got about three minutes."

"Three minutes? We haven't even evacuated the facility yet!" Blue Beetle panicked.

"Can you disarm it?" Raven turned to Wally.

"I could if you'd stop talking!" Kid Flash frowned.

"Sorry, ese." Blue Beetle stepped back.

Clearing everything out of his mind, Kid Flash typed hastily – his hands moving as blurs – as he tried to disarm the warhead. Huffing, he sat back and looked at the others. "Man, that was close."

"You did it?" Raven's eyes dilated and she received a nod, sighing in relief.

"Phew, gracias Dios." Blue Beetle panted. "That was awesome, Raven."

"Me?" She raised her brow. "He disarmed the missile."

"Yeah, cuz you caught it. We'd have a major disaster if you weren't here."

"Thanks." She smiled.

"Guys, a missile just launched!" Artemis's voice came.

"Make that two!" Superboy's voice came, strain evident in it.

* * *

"COULD USE some help over here!" He gritted his teeth.

His fingers dug into the sides of the missile – veins pulsating on his arms as he held it down. Fire raged out of the thrusters, spreading across the ground and singeing his boots as his feet slid on the floor. Screaming as the flames grew hotter, he pulled down on the weapon, impeding it.

* * *

M'GANN SHOT through the twin doors of a building – her eyes glowing – and stretching her arms before her and holding a missile in place. Artemis ran out and drew an arrow, shooting it onto the side of the weapon. Fire roared and propelled the missile further, drawing a grunt from the Martian as sweat beaded down her brow.

"Can you stop it?" Artemis drew an arrow.

"I don't know." M'gann panted. "The missile's speed's increasing."

"Just lemme fire some arrows onto it." She aimed at the missile.

"I don't think that'd – ah!"

The missile shot onward and she clenched her fists, bending the metal slightly as she halted it and held it back. Artemis fired two arrows and fire exploded out of the thrusters, blasting off in a boom that knocked M'gann back. Catching herself, she panted as she landed, turning to the blonde who strapped the bow over her shoulder.

"Oh God, we're doomed." M'gann panted.

"I –,"

A missile shot out of a silo across from them on the field, Superboy clinging on the side helplessly. Falling off the rocket, the Kryptonian slammed on the ground and groaned in pain – M'gann and Artemis coming to his side. Helping him to his feet, M'gann looked at him worriedly, seeing his trousers burnt from up to his knees.

"We detected three launches – did you ground the missiles?" Nightwing's voice came on M'gann's com.

"Negative, two got away." She went on com.

"What about the third?"

"We don't know." M'gann frowned.

"This's bad for the mission; if you can't stop those missiles in time, Supergirl will be overwhelmed in the air."

"Don't worry; I put bombs on 'em that I'll detonate when they've reached a safe enough altitude." Artemis went on com.

"Well, let's just hope Kara can stop the first missile." Nightwing went off.

* * *

SUPERGIRL SHOT through the air, leaving a shockwave behind her as she flew over a street. A missile zoomed ahead of her, its descent deepening her frown as she increased her speed. Seeing it gain distance, she gritted her teeth in anger – her eyes beginning to glow.

"Supergirl, don't!" Daisy's voice came on com. "You shouldn't destroy it until it's out of the city's radius."

"It's over the city already!" She growled. "I wasn't fast enough."

"Well, get it outta there, grab it and fly off if you have to."

Supergirl thrust her arms forward and shot past the missile, swerving around it and held the warhead. She struggled as it pushed her back, her eyes shutting in desperation as she drew closer to the ground. Opening her eyes, she saw civilians behind her – her foot inches away from a woman's head. Screaming, she burst into the sky, creating a sonic boom as glass shattered around her.

Digging her fingers into the metal, she shot through the air – flying over several buildings as she increased her speed. Breaking two sound barriers, she shot over a coast, flying over the ocean. Stopping herself, she panted and hovered, bolting to the skies above as she rose over the city.

"Kara, how much time do you have?" Batgirl's voice came on com.

"I don't know." She strained.

"Rip open a compartment on the left side of the missile and you'll see a timer." Nightwing's voice came.

Supergirl grabbed a plate on the missile's side and pealed it off, seeing a timer nestled underneath in some wiring. "Forty seconds."

"Try to fly higher." Daisy's voice came. "You're almost high enough for the fallout to be nonlethal."

"I'll try."

Folding her knees before her, she straightened up and shot upward – wind spreading out and parting clouds as she ascended into the sky. Seeing the rising sun to her right – its rays illuminating the expanse – she flew further, closing her eyes and gritting her teeth as she exerted herself.

"Okay, Kara, let go!" Daisy's voice came.

Releasing her grip, she fell back and tossed the missile upward – letting herself plummet as she saw the rocket spin in the air. She panted, feeling the wind around her as she descended to the ocean below. The missile exploded, the shockwave knocking her back and spreading out into the sky.

With a drawn out breath, her eyes slowly shut as she fell – her body covered in smoke and burns as she descended. She slammed into the water, sinking like a rock and drowning limply. A dark figure swooped up from underneath her, grabbing her and rising to the surface.

Water splashed around her as she roused, blinking repeatedly as she got her bearings and scoped the scene. Looking up, she smiled warmly as her blue eyes met pale green, realizing who held her.

"Kaldur."

* * *

SWIPING CARD through a scanner, he opened the door and entered a dim room – the lights slowly coming on as he strode on. Adjusting his jacket, he moved up to a large screen that descended from the ceiling. Leaning toward it, rays spread down his face, scanning him.

"Access granted: Alexander Joseph "Lex" Luthor." The computer AI responded.

Stepping forward, adjusted his cufflink and raised his brow. "You summoned me."

"Yes, Luthor; it seems we have a new development." A large, furrowed face appeared onscreen. "The Team has arrived on this world through the Sparrow Dimension."

"Well, that's unfortunate." He pocketed his hands, his expression remaining impassive.

"Make sure they won't interfere."

"Understood."

* * *

**As always, Follow, Favourite and Review and Await the Awesomeness as we dive deeper into the universe. Thanks for reading.**


	3. Complications

**COMPLICATIONS**

THE EARLY morning sun shone through the windows of the Quinjet – Raven's face glowing in its luminescence as she fought off sleep. Lowering her head, she looked at her hand, seeing Caucasian skin slowly replace the pale blue of her palm. Pulling her sleeve, she shut her eyes and breathed deeply – calming her mind.

"Hey, are you okay?" Jaime moved up to her.

"Oh, yeah, yeah I am." Her eyelids fluttered open.

"Rough night, huh?" He sat beside her.

"It was rough for everyone."

"Well, at least we're back home." He stretched. "Things should get back to normal."

"Is there a normal for us?"

"Well, regular then." He chuckled. "At least I hope it will be." He pointed at his back. "The Scarab's been real quiet since the last mission; said he detected something, but hasn't said a word since."

"We could all use a break anyway." She crossed her leg. "I need some sleep."

"You and me both." He sat back.

She glanced at him and chuckled to herself – looking to the window and seeing buildings rise up in the distance as their ship descended. Unfastening her seatbelt, she moved over to the main doors as the hangar bay opened – moving up to the ship's exit. Opening the door before the vehicle landed, she bumped into Artemis who stepped back in confusion.

"Uh, you in a hurry?"

Raven giggled. "I'm fine."

Artemis' brows stitched as Raven disembarked, turning to Wally whose mouth fell agape in shock. The vehicle landed and the Teammates disembarked, Artemis moving up to Raven who hovered lazily toward the main entrance.

"Raven, are you okay?"

"Yeah, sure, why'd you ask?"

"Cuz you're kinda acting … off." She frowned.

Raven smiled and patted her cheek. "You're so funny."

She flew off, leaving the blonde dumbfounded as she headed for the door. Raven winced and held her head, feeling her eyes go heavy as she fell to her feet and staggered a bit. Artemis came to her side, alarmed when the door opened and Mac entered the building – moving up to Daisy.

"Tremors, looks like we're in trouble."

"What happened?" Daisy moved up to him.

"This." He held up a tablet, showing her surveillance footage of Supergirl flying off with the missile. "This was caught by the Russian secret service."

"The Russwedish secret service." She chuckled.

"Whatever." He scoffed. "Words spreading and Phil's on his way, he –," The hangar doors opened and he huffed. "He's already here."

"Man, we can't catch a break." She groaned.

"Nope."

"Who's that?" M'gann flew over to them, pointing at the jet.

"The boss." Mac turned to her.

"Director Coulson? What's he doing here?"

"Asking you what the hell is going on." Phil walked up to them. "Only the second mission and your ops get spotted by the FSRB?"

"The what?" Wally raised his brow.

"Our FSB." He sighed. "Look, we can't have these kinda things happening; if word gets out about the Severed City or these heroes –,"

"I've already reminded them of that." Daisy frowned.

"Then what happened?"  
"I let it happen – it was my fault." Kara walked up to him, interrupting Daisy. "I didn't catch up the missile quickly enough and it reached the city."

"Well, we've gotta make sure this project of ours goes smoothly or I'll shut it down. I have the government breathing down my neck and I don't want to start a war because America was accused of infiltrating the Russian secret service."

"The Russwedish secret –,"

"Whatever." Phil interrupted her and shook his head, seeing Kaldur behind him. "Who's that?"

"I'm Kaldur'ahm of Atlantis." He walked up to him.

"Ah, a walking fish."

"That's racist." Daisy turned to him.

"Sorry, my humour's a little low tide." He chuckled, offering a hand. "Phil Coulson. Welcome to SHIELD. I assume you're part of the team."

"Yes, I was its original leader." He shook his hand. "I'm honoured for you to have me – I've been told you're organisation's quite prestigious."

"Not the word I would use, but I'll take it. Daisy and Mac will run you through some rudimentary tests before you can join our operation."

"Yes, but I have some very important information to tell you."

* * *

MAC PULLED up documents on the screens in the briefing room. "Lex Luthor, CEO of Lex Corporations based in New Washington. He's a powerful business man and peace broker responsible for the reuniting of North and South Korginia –,"

"Kor what?" Wally raised his brow.

"Korea and Virginia."

"Oh…"

"You think Lex Luthor has something to do with Hydra?" Phil stood across from Kaldur, looking at the screen curiously.

"Undoubtedly. He's been behind several dubious acts in our world since the founding of his company and is a common adversary of Superman. He was a member of the Light, an organisation that plotted to rule the Milky Way. He is definitely still up to something." Kaldur frowned. "We need to stop him."

"Well, all things considered, I think we should do nothing for the time being."

"Wha-why? We can't leave Lex to continue his plans – who knows what he's up to?" Wally rose to his feet.

"We don't have enough evidence to have him officially arrested and we can't prove anything. Even if we did, he's a well-respected public figure and there's no way we could apprehend him without putting ourselves in the light." Phil turned to him.

"Director Coulson, we can't wait for there to be evidence to strike – he's dangerous. He could be working to bring back the Light or worse." M'gann frowned.

"I'm sorry, but temporary inaction is our best course of action." Phil's brows stitched. "The world's too volatile now and the slightest info leak relating to Changed Regions could cause war. SHIELD needs to remain in the dark and our main obligation is to the normal world – the world without heroes and aliens. People need to feel safe and know that they're safe. If they didn't, especially now, there'd be utter chaos."

"Are you kidding me? Leaving Lex alone to his dirty schemes _will_ lead to total chaos!" Connor shot up. "He owned Cadmus, the organisation that cloned me from Superman. He could be working on an army, plotting to start a war – he could be doing anything! We can't just sit back and let that happen."

"With all due respect, I'll have to agree with Connor on this." Kaldur turned to Phil. "Lex Luthor is not one you leave unwatched. He had vehicles parked outside your world's Atlantis, which means he knows about the Changed Earth. He's dangerous."

"Look, it's not that I don't believe you, but this is a very delicate situation. Any wrong move would expose your existence and SHIELD's. And if he does know about Changed Earth, then it'd make him even more difficult to deal with. Suppose we apprehend him, with his multiple contacts worldwide, he could easily release the info he knows of Changed Earth to multiple third parties and cause a chain reaction that'd lead to a third world war. We can't proceed until we have more evidence and a way to deal with him quietly." Phil frowned.

"So, what do we do now?" Kara turned to him.

"Continue with your Hydra investigations and leave Luthor to SHIELD. We'll find a way to take him down – we won't let him succeed with his plans."

"We understand." Kaldur sighed.

Mac looked around the room – seeing Phil leave. "Well, get some rest – we'll call for a briefing when we have another assignment for you."

* * *

ARTEMIS AND Wally stepped out of the briefing room and Dick closed it behind him, seeing Barbara standing across from him – her arms folded as she leaned against the wall. Seeing the others move down the hall, she glanced around and gestured for them to walk on.

"I'm guessing you're gonna be looking into Luthor's involvement with Hydra?" She smirked.

"I didn't say anything." He shrugged.

"C'mon, I know what you're thinking – he might as well have begged you to hack into LexCorp for incriminating evidence."

"Well, you read my mind then."

"Nobody knows you better." She smiled. "C'mon." She grabbed his arm and dragged him down the hall.

* * *

RAVEN WALKED into her room and closed the door behind her – smacking against the wall and groaning. Sweat beaded down her brow and she breathed heavily, shaking her head and moving toward her dressing table.

Pulling her sleeve upward, she looked at her arm, seeing her skin having changed from the tip of her fingers to her elbow. She slowly began to disrobe – feeling her body feel heavy as she removed her cloak and shirt.

Her left arm was a different skin tone now, the change spreading over up to the left side of her chest. A tear trickled down her cheek and she touched it – her brows stitching in confusion as she felt sadness overwhelm her.

Stepping back from the mirror, she levitated and began to meditate – breathing deeply and shutting out the world around her. Purple energy exuded from her body when a pang hit her head and knocked her to the floor. She pushed herself up and looked at her arm – seeing her aura spread up the appendage and her skin change quicker. She closed her eyes and clenched her fist, stopping the exudation.

She got to her feet and looked into the mirror, seeing that her neck and chest had changed in tone. She held her face and sifted her mind, wondering what was happening. She felt a chuckle bubble within her and she laughed.

* * *

KARA SCREAMED loudly, her throat sore and her voice rasping as she felt fear overwhelm her. The city around her went up in flames as she saw three orbs glow in the ashen sky – the horrid sounds of chaos filling her ears as she looked around in a panic. She balled up and leaned against a wall – ignoring the glass shards the cut into her skin and bruised her hand.

She turned to her left and screamed again – her weak arms pulling her as she scrambled to her feet and tried to run. She fell over and grazed her elbow, turning over and feeling the unrelenting fear manacling her.

Small metal robots crawled toward her, covering the ground like ants and moving up to her feet. She moved back quickly and bumped into debris – trying desperately to stand as they began to wrap around her. The machines blanketed over her, covering her body and rising up to her neck. They enveloped her and entered her mouth – burrowing into her throat and suffocating her screams.

* * *

KARA SCREAMED loudly, firing a laser at the ceiling and shooting up on her bed – looking around in a panic. M'gann barged into the room, looking around worriedly as Kaldur and Dick followed after her. The blonde shifted her gaze around her bed repeatedly – awake, but not out of her dream.

"Kara!" M'gann ran toward her and hugged her. "Kara, it's okay, we're here."

Kaldur looked at Kara, seeing her eyes darting back and forth – still seeing what wasn't before her. "Kara, it's us, we're here."

"It's only a dream." M'gann rocked her back and forth.

Kara blinked repeatedly and wrapped her arms around her, holding her close and crying into her shoulder. M'gann patted her on the back and spoke to her softly, consoling her as she awoke from her nightmare.

"It's okay, you're safe now." She pulled back.

"What happened?" Kaldur moved up to her.

She glanced at him and sifted her mind, wiping her tears away quickly. "I-it's nothing." She sniffled.

"That definitely wasn't nothing." Dick frowned.

"A dream that holds on for that long had to have had some trauma behind it. You can share it with us; we can help you." Kaldur's brows stitched.

She thought hard and frowned. "I'm –,"

Wally barged into the room. "Whoa, I just heard screaming – what happened?"

"Kara had a nightmare." Dick turned to her.

"But I'm fine now." Kara frowned.

"Well, that's some bad luck, huh?" Wally leaned on the door. "Sucks for you cuz Raven was laughing all night last night."

"Raven was laughing?" M'gann raised her brow.

"I know, right?" Wally laughed. "She's changed into someone else all of a sudden – she's so happy."

"Raven was happy?" Kaldur frowned.

* * *

RAVEN GIGGLED as she patted Daisy's head fondly – her face nestled in a pink scarf that draped over purple pyjamas and dipped into her cereal. Frowning at the odd behaviour, Daisy pulled the garment out of the milk and went back to her breakfast.

"Guess this is what I get for trying to get to know you people." Daisy munched angrily.

"You're pretty." Raven giggled and hiccupped. "Excuse me." She laughed then turned to Dr Cello who sat across from her. "And you, quit being so quiet; you're dampening the mood." She frowned.

"Yeah, you're gonna wish you didn't ask that." Cher frowned.

Daisy's eyes drooped and she turned to Cher who sat next to her at the large white table in the kitchen. "Did she ever act like this in the comics?"

"Once in the 2003 TV show, but not this much." Cher took a bite out of her toast.

"Fools! I am Inigo Montoya, you killed my father, yousa in big dudu dis time!" Dr Cello pointed his spoon at the ceiling.

Daisy groaned and turned to Mac who sat in the living room. "Hey, Mac, you think Phil will notice if I killed one of his 'brilliant' scientists?"

"Hey, you dragged me into this, Tremors – being around aliens is bad enough, I'm not gonna socialize." Mac turned back to his videogame. "And in case you didn't notice, that includes that nut job."

"We can be immortals, immortals! It's Mr Steal Yo Girl!" Dr Cello danced around.

"Oh my God." Daisy huffed.

Cher shook her head and sipped her coffee when she saw Kara enter the room. "Ah, there's my favourite girl." She turned to Connor who sat on one end of the table. "Sorry, Superboy."

"What'd you just say?" He growled.

"Just ignore her." M'gann patted his shoulder.

"Okay, look, Cher, I don't wanna be rude, but I'm really not in the mood for this." Kara stooped over.

"Oh, don't worry, I'm not gonna bother you." Cher walked up to her.

"Good." Kara huffed.

Cher tapped Kara's chest, making her costume spread over her clothes. "Yay, it worked!"

Kara groaned. "Cher, seriously, can you just drop it?"

"No!" Cher rips off her clothes, unveiling a suit underneath, fishing out a bouquet of flowers and going on one knee. "Baby, I love you, will you marry me?"

"Uhh, what?" Kara raised her brow.

"Marry me and I'll take everything you have!"

"Um, I don't roll that way." Kara stepped back.

"And I'll drink your milk!" Cher gestured to her side.

A cricket chirped and everyone froze in shock, Wally stepping back from the table. "I think we should give you some privacy."

"What!? I'm not agreeing to this!" Kara turned to him.

"Fools! What gives you the right to drink milk!" Dr Cello shot up, pointing his spoon at them.

Cher froze in place, sifting her mind. "This plan turned weirder than I thought it'd be in my head."

"Ya think." Kara raised her brow.

Dr Cello fished a cocoanut out of his jacket and smashed it on her head, dashing out of the room. Kara stood in shock, looking at the others who were dumbfounded by the scientist as he ran toward the hall.

Dick stood at the entrance, leaning against a wall in the hall, stroking the bridge of his nose. "I feel like I'm in Arkham Asylum."

"Well, we have The Joker here." Barbara pointed at Dr Cello who ran past and laughed maniacally.  
"I'll take over the world! One cocoanut at a time." Dr Cello smashed a cocoanut on the ground, releasing a puff of smoke, disappearing in it.

"What the hell?" Dick frowned.

Barbara shook her head. "Anyway, what'd you wanna show me?"

"I –,"

A crash met their ears, alarming the two as they went into the kitchen where the others looked at Raven in shock. She seethed as she looked around – her bowl of cereal smashed against the wall and her eyes glowed red. She stormed out of the room, moving past Barbara and Dick who watched her leave in confusion.

"What's her problem?" Daisy raised her brow.

* * *

RAVEN SLAMMED the door behind her as she entered her bedroom and went into the bathroom and moved up to the sink. She turned on the faucet and washed her face – breathing heavily as she looked into the mirror and saw her distraught reflection.

Her eye liner ran down her face – her lip twitching as she was relieved that her skin colour didn't run down with it. She turned off the faucet and jerked back in shock as a black aura exuded from her body. Her breath quickened as it collected together, forming an apparition, the shape of a demon standing over her.

* * *

FINGERS MOVED hastily over a keyboard – Dick's eyes darting back and forth as he typed on his laptop in his room. Barbara sat beside him, adjusting her gloves and checking her utility belt as she suited up.

"Y'know we might not need to go into the field even if I find something, right?" He glanced at her.

"In this line of work, I've learned to be prepared for anything … well, except for now cuz I'm gearing up in a relaxed way. Don't tell Batman." She whispered.

"I won't." He chuckled then continued typing. "… Cuz he'd probably give me a similar lecture regarding my form."

She chuckled. "Yeah." She holstered her grappling gun. "So, you find anything?"

"Not quite …" He typed a bit more then stopped. "Whoa, take a look at this."

"What?" She moved up to the screen.

"LexCorp's R & D department's been using satellite scans to find alternative sources of power after discovering a spike in what they're calling Yellow Core energy in Africa –,"

"Afrisia." She corrected.

" _Afrisia_ and its signature is identical to that of the energy SHIELD forensics found on the Hydra base we found outside Las Dubai. According to their research, it emits a very low radiation sig that's hard to trace, but has been spotted in multiple locations on the continent. It seems they've been doing scans for months now, but haven't gone on the ground to find anything."

"Whoa, so Luthor's trying the same thing Hydra's doing? Creating some kinda super weapon?"

"Or he's selling it to Hydra." He frowned.

"Wait, if they know it's in Afrisia, why haven't they gone to search for it yet?"

"They probably know what SHIELD knows." He sat back. "That moving around in Changed locations like these is dangerous especially with the element they're using. For all they know, there might be another organisation looking for it that's already there."

"So, what do we do now?"

"We're gonna pay a visit to LexCorp."

* * *

THE STARRY night sky stood over San Fransokyo, beautifying the already colourful sight as blimps littered around. Atop one of them lay Hiro and GoGo who looked at the stars as they relaxed in the evening.

"I think I'm in love." She looked around in awe.

"You already said that." He chuckled.

"Not you, I mean this view." She sighed. "I wish I could fly."

"Could build you a suit."

"No, it wouldn't be the same. I mean fly on my own and stay in the stars for as long as I want."

"Well, we can dream."

"Yeah, we can." She smiled.

"Y'know it's been really calm lately – no villains to fight and Dr Cello isn't around anymore."

"He said he took a job." She turned to him.

"Really? What job?"

"Dunno, said it was 'top secret'." She gestured.

"Yeah, right." He chuckled.

"It could happen." She glanced at him and the two burst into laughter.

A red line shot above them, jerking them up as they looked up in surprise. "Did you see that?" He turned to her.

Supergirl flew over San Fransokyo, looking down at the city as she proceeded with her search. Night after night, nightmares plagued her and it wouldn't be long before she'd break down again on another mission. She had to face her fears head on.

She swooped down and pressed the 'S' on her chest, going into camouflage mode as she looked around with her X-Ray vision. A low, high-pitched sound met her ears and she stopped, hovering over an alley. She clenched her fists shakily as she looked down – sweat beading down her face as fear manacled her. Shutting her eyes angrily, she screamed and shot into the ground, bursting through the concrete.

* * *

SUPERGIRL SMASHED through the roof of an underground hallway, drawing the attention of soldiers that patrolled the expanse. They opened fire on her and she dashed up to them, punching them down while evading the bullets. She fired lasers at the remaining men, clearing the hall and walked onward.

She looked around and saw different machines in several rooms. On one of the walls was a poster – a skull with tentacles spreading out. Hydra. She frowned as she moved through the building, hearing the voices of several men in the building as she proceeded.

She turned to her left and walked down another corridor – past a surveillance camera that zoomed in on her. An alarm sounded and she cursed under her breath, seeing several soldiers enter from the opposite end. She fired lasers at two of them and they shot at her, some of them wielding large cannons.

She shielded her face from the bullets and received an energy ball to her abdomen, knocking her back. She struggled to her feet, gritting her teeth as the onslaught continued. She dodged another energy ball and shot a laser at man's head – backtracking as she was overwhelmed.

She sent lasers across the ceiling, letting tiles rain on the men and stepped back, panting as she held her stomach in pain. An energy beam hit her in her chest, sending her hurling back – bouncing off the wall and smashing against one at the end of the hall. She raised her head stiffly, seeing the men move through the rubble as an automated canon slid down from the ceiling.

A loud ringing invaded her ears and she bent over, holding her head in aggravation as the men moved in on her. The bullets pelted her relentlessly, biting at her as a soldier charged his cannon. Fear swam through her tremulously, the sound whining in her mind as they drew closer. She clenched her fists tightly till her knuckles turned white.

She shot a laser at the man, screaming wildly as she burned the men, slicing their bodies to bits and destroyed the automated canon. She fell back and breathed heavily, getting to her feet as she saw the sight before her. Severed limbs and bullet cartridges littered the floor, moving up to a pile of rubble that stood up ahead. Shaking her head, she flew onward, avoiding the ground.

She moved over the rubble and continued down the hall – failing to see through the walls on either side. She turned to a door on her right, hearing a higher pitched ringing than earlier coming from inside. She clenched her fist and punched the door down, entering the room.

Several work desks filled the massive lab – humanoid robots moving about in a working frenzy that led up to large, oval machines lining up the walls. She hovered down the expanse in the middle aisle, moving up to a large, cylindrical robot that floated via rocket boosters on it – its top tapering out into a large rectangular shape.

"If you're wondering why the robots aren't reacting to your presence, it's because I told them so." The robot turned to them, revealing the rectangular part to be a screen showing a wide, fissured man's face. "If you are wise, you will leave now. My men are on the way as we speak."

"That … that's a big head." Supergirl chuckled.

"I've heard such foolish remarks thousands of times, but I take no offense because they come from beings with intellect that pales enormously compared to mine." He frowned.

"And you are you?"  
He looked at her curiously then huffed. "I assume you'd like to know who's responsible for your demise. Very well. I am MODOC, the Mechanized Organism Designed Only for Conquest, and you have stumbled onto one of my laboratories."

"Really? So you work for Hydra?"

"How do you know about that?"

"That's all I needed to hear." Her eyes glowed and she turned to a machine standing at a wall across from her.

"Wait, don't destroy that machine! If you do, it'll –,"

She fired a laser at the machine, destroying its wall and releasing a gas that spread through the room. MODOC hovered back, looking around the lab in fear as it permeated the air. He summoned a holographic screen before him, entering a code into it.

"Initiate the Deep Dive Protocol." He flew out of the room.

"Oh, you're not going anywhere!" She chased after him.

MODOC moved through a cloud before him and she made chase, stopping abruptly as it entered her mouth. She gasped in halting breaths, falling to the floor as the robots evacuated the room and an alarm blared. Tiles underneath the large machines opened, sucking them into pods and shutting afterward.

Kara suffocated as the gas swooped into her mouth and nostrils, flooding her airways as she began to choke. Blood trickled out of her eyes, ears and mouth, veins pulsating throughout her body as she felt herself swell up.

Tears mixed in with the blood as pain radiated throughout her body, every inch screaming in agony as her skin began to redden. She fell over and tried to scream, her gullet blocked by the gas the walled her gullet and nostrils, stopping her from breathing. She tried to scream and went limp, her hand slumping on the floor as blood pooled around her.

Water burst through the main door, carrying soldiers with it as Kaldur and M'gann entered the room. Seeing Kara on the floor, the two came quickly to her side, seeing her veins cover her body as she slowly bled out.

"Oh my God, what happened to her?" M'gann's eyes dilated.

Kaldur placed his ears on her chest. "She's going into cardiac arrest – we need to get her out of here now!"

"On it." Her eyes glowed green.

Kaldur slid his arms under Kara and lifted her gingerly, M'gann placing her hands on the two as she turned them invisible and sunk them through the floor. Several soldiers barged into the room, training their guns around as three large robots with yellow chests looked around.

* * *

WALLY FROWNED as he sat at his desk, looking at Dr Cello who smiled at him determinedly. The two sat in their cluttered lab and before them stood a large treadmill attached to several computers and a large conductor. Raising his brow, the redhead stood up and examined the machine.

"And what am I supposed to do with this?"

"Run, Barry, run!" Dr Cello smiled eagerly.

"Um, I'm Wally."

"Name rhymes – it's close enough." Dr Cello walked up to him. "This machine should – hopefully – be able to collect samples of the energy surging through you so I can study it. I discovered YEAST energy, but I've never had enough to properly analyse it, but with your help, I will."

"So, you're basically ripping off Barry's Cosmic Treadmill? Can it handle my speed?"

"Yeah." Dr Cello sat at his computer and turned to him. "So, get on the treadmill and let's see if we can collect some of your energy."

"For the record, it's called the Speed Force." Wally walked onto the treadmill.

"Tomaito, Tomato, Hakuna Matata – whatever floats your boat, Muchacho." Dr Cello turned to the computer.

Sighing in aggravation, Wally stretched out and waited for the machine to turn on. Hearing the beep, he began to jog – startled a little as its speed kicked in faster than he thought. He ran faster, his arms and legs blurring as he sped on as the treadmill quickened.

Yellow electricity surged out of Wally and Dr Cello turned to him, watching eagerly as it began to increase. Images flashed in Wally's mind as he ran – seeing flashes of lightning as a black figure appeared before him. He yelled and fell back, rolling off the treadmill and onto the floor.

"Wally!" Dr Cello came to his side. "What happened?" He helped him up.

"N-nothing, I just tripped." Wally dusted himself.

"You sure?" Dr Cello's brows stitched.

"Yeah." Wally frowned. "I'm gonna get a glass of water." He left the room.

Closing the door behind him, Wally stepped into the hall and looked at his hand – seeing static between his fingers. He clenched his fist and walked down the expanse.

* * *

"Y'KNOW, I wonder what'd happen if Daisy found out we left the Door." Barbara went on com as she crouched on a rooftop.

"Kinda the same thing that'll happen when she finds out about M'gann, Kaldur and Kara leaving the base." Dick's voice came.

"Huh, guess it's a trend now. I wonder who else's left."

"Just them. Blue, KF and Superboy aren't stealthy enough to leave and Artemis just isn't willing to. She's become very complaisant since we ended up here."

"I did wonder about that. She's very quiet too." She fished for her binoculars.

"Guess we all deal with grief differently."

"Thought she was there when Raven said our earth's still out there."

"Well, I haven't known her to be very hopeful. Raven wouldn't leave the nest either, so we're the only ones who're gonna be in trouble when we get back."

"You mean they'll be in trouble cuz we hacked the surveillance and they didn't."

"Kaldur, M'gann and Kara didn't think about that, did they?"

"Kinda proves how powers negate meticulousness." She chuckled.

"Yeah. By the way, I'm beating you to entering the building."

"What?" Her eyes dilated in surprise.

Nightwing cackled and she got off com, muttering to herself as she looked through her binoculars and studied the building across from her. It was an eight storey high-rise building with two men standing guard at the main entrance. Going into infrared, she spotted about several roaming the building, each armed by her calculations and manning each floor.

Pocketing her binoculars, she leapt off the roof and stretched her arms out – spreading her cape and gliding to the opposite building across from her. Moving over the street, she shot her grappling gun, latching her onto a window and pulling herself onto it.

Climbing into the building, she quietly walked down the hall and pressed her earpiece – tapping into the radio frequencies of the immediate area. Hearing the voices of a guard calling in his location, she moved into a hallway to her left. Seeing a guard standing on one end of the hall, she fished up her tranquilizer gun and shot him in the neck, putting him down.

She entered a hallway to her right, seeing Nightwing looking at his glove. The pads on his palm glowed and he placed it on the scanner on the door. She moved up to him and he looked at her, nodding as a beep came from the scanner, unlocking the door. He stood in the doorway and tossed a Batarang at the ceiling, sticking it there.

"Okay, that should give us ninety seconds before the cameras come back on." He whispered.

"Good, get what you can and let's get outta here." She stood at the door.

Nightwing entered the dim office, moving up to the large desk and turning on the computer. He started keyboarding and inserting a flash drive, creating copies of all the files. Looking at the time given, he huffed and turned to her.

"We don't have enough time to empty the drive."

"So, just add another disrupter." She looked into the hall.

"It'd need ten minutes."

"Well, then this's a bust – we can't have the slightest piece evidence proving that we're here." She frowned.

He started keyboarding. "I'll have to add a virus that'll transmit their surveillance feeds and files to SHIELD archives."

"Aren't we trying _not_ to get caught?"

"SHIELD definitely knows we left the base by now."

"Okay." She sighed. "Just be quick." Her eyes dilated in surprise and she backed up.

"What is it?" He shot up.

Soldiers entered the room, each armed and spread out. Barbara and Dick recognized their badges. SHIELD.

"You're under arrest." A soldier trained his gun at them.

* * *

**As always, Follow, Favourite and Review and Await the Awesomeness as we dive deeper into the universe. Thanks for reading.**


	4. Helpless

**Welcome to the Universe! Sorry it took so long to make an update, but now that we've gotten some progress in other fanfics, it's time to continue this story. Enjoy.**

* * *

**HELPLESS**

THE EARLY sun's rays bled through the dark blinds of Raven's room, her eyes slowly opening in irritation to their unwelcomed glow. Shifting her arm, she shut the curtains and pulled herself out of bed, giving a long, drawn-out yawn as she moved over to her vanity. She wiped the sleep from her face and looked at her reflection, jerking back in shock.

Her entire body had turned, her once purple skin replaced with a peachy Caucasian tone. She looked at her hand, fear moving through her tremulously as it shivered. She disrobed and looked at herself in the mirror, seeing that every inch of her had changed.

"What the hell?" She breathed heavily.

Feeling herself panic, she clasped her head and muttered to herself, calming her mind as she stepped toward the centre of the room. She lifted her arm, summoning books from her shelf and clothes from her wardrobe, donning her leotard and cowl as she hovered and began reading.

The pages flipped and the words flew into her mind, her magic exhausting as she hastily burned through all of the literature she had. If there was something to explain what was happening to her, it would be within these books. She opened another one, beginning to read when she felt heat swell up within her, a stream of red energy exuding from her mouth.

"Trigon." She gasped.

She frowned and glanced around the room, dropping her books on the floor as she hovered over the expanse in search of the presence she sensed. She pulled her sleeve and looked at her forearm, sighing in relief as the Marks of Sceth weren't glowing. She frowned though, looking from corner to corner as she felt something or someone was there.

"Hello?" She turned around.

A ball of purple energy appeared before her, spreading and forming into a magic circle that hovered near the wall. The aura swirled, creating a bright light that dimmed into an image of a woman clad in a white cloak. Raven raised her brow, flying closer to the projection, confusion etching on her face.

"Arella?"

"Raven, it took me a while to find where you were."

"What're you doing contacting me?" Raven frowned, looking at the buildings in the distance behind Arella. "Where are you?"

"I'm in Azarath."

"What? But, Azarath was destroyed." Raven's eyes dilated.

"It was, I was it's only survivor, but not until two months ago."

"Two months ago?"

"Yes. There's been a sudden shift in the cosmos, I lost much of capability to contact you and I was lost in a desolate purple realm, but that was until I stumbled onto Azarath. Its buildings, all its people, they're alive, Raven."

"But how? I saw it myself – you only made that illusion –,"

"Because I was unwilling to leave the past behind … I didn't want to accept what Trigon had done to my home, but I'm telling you the truth, Azarath has been restored."

"What about Azar?"

Arella frowned. "He's still gone."

"What's happening here?" Raven sifted her mind. "I end up in a different earth, my body's changing and now Azarath has returned?"

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about." A white dove landed on Arella's shoulder and she petted it. "The cosmos has changed drastically and because of that, our connection to it has been disrupted. I was only able to sense you because I sensed Trigon; he's still alive."

"No, but my friends and I –,"

"Only weakened him. He had barely regained his power when he came to earth and had to bide his time after you had driven him away."

"Do you know where is?"

"No, but he has taken his gem from you and that's why I was able to sense you."

"So, I'm changing because he's no longer connected to me?"

"Yes."

"I'm finally free of him." Raven looked at her hands then it hit her. "But that means he doesn't need me anymore. He can come to earth at will."

"I had to warn you, Raven, you need to be prepared. He could attack at anytime and anywhere and him taking his power from you means he's far stronger now than ever."

* * *

HEARING THE door of the Quinjet open, Dick and Barbara walked onto the platform slowly, led by two SHIELD agents who walked them up to Phil Coulson. Removing the bags from their heads and unlocking their handcuffs, the soldiers stepped back from the two who looked at the director in confusion.

"Was that necessary?" Dick rubbed his wrist.

"We had to make it look good – even had 'em look like CIA ops to ward off suspicion." Phil shrugged. "Plus, we can't let you know where our base is."

"Well, what'd you arrest us for?" Barbara raised her brow.

"You disobeyed a direct order, you were supposed to leave Lex Luthor to us."

"We can't leave him unwatched, he's dangerous." Dick frowned.

"We already know that, that's why we've got ops surveying him."

"Well, we'd have gone a step further and gotten enough intel to incriminate him."

"What you did was trip several silent alarms and have his men on you in minutes. If we hadn't stepped in and pulled off that fake arrest, you'd have been captured."

"The alarms were tripped? But how? We hacked their motion sensors and surveillance." Barbara turned to Dick.

"I may be a lil rusty, but I'm not _that_ rusty." Dick frowned.

"Whatever new systems he has in play, they spotted you." Phil received a tablet from an agent, looking at the document it showed. "Look, we understand that you've encountered him several times before, but let us handle this."

"You don't understand –,"

"I do understand, but this situation needs a level of discretion you don't have. He knows you and he's been preparing for you for years – he'll see you coming. Luthor has evidence that can reveal Changed Earth to the public and until we can obtain it, we need to keep a safe distance." Phil frowned. "Now, I need you to stand down and leave Luthor to us. That's an order, you understand?"

Dick glanced at Barbara then huffed. "Fine."

"Good, glad we understand each other." Phil walked away. "Bag 'em."

"Oh, not this again."

Two SHIELD agents tied black bags over their heads.

* * *

KARA ROUSED to a blinding light, squinting as she came to and looked around the room. She lay on a gurney in a small ward, the only other person in the room being Helen Cho who checked her vitals on a screen nearby. Hearing the blonde stir, the woman walked up to her, looking at her reactions carefully before speaking.

"Hello, Kara." She cooed.

"Nn … where am I?"

"You're back at the Door, I'm Dr Cho and I –,"

"Kara?" M'gann peeped into the room. "Oh, thank God, you're alright." She walked up to her, jerking back as the blonde winced. "What's wrong?" She turned to Helen.

"Try to keep your voice down." The woman whispered. "Her body's still adjusting after the shock, so she's gonna be a little sensitive for a while."

"What happened to me?" Kara strained.

"M'gann and Kaldur'ahm found you bleeding out on the floor of a Hydra base you attacked. You were in a critical condition and you're lucky they'd brought you back in time." Helen held a tablet up to Kara, showing her an X-Ray image of her body. "A host of three million nanites had entered your bloodstream, corroding your blood vessels, sub dermal skin cells and internal organs causing severe haemorrhaging. If it weren't for your body healing itself, you'd have died in minutes." She moved the tablet aside. "Thankfully, the machines had metal in them, so we were able to remove them magnetically and the Cradle did the healing your regeneration couldn't. You'll need a couple days bed rest before you can get back into the field. You've got some good friends, Kara, you should be thankful."

"Thank you." Kara turned stiffly to M'gann, giving as much of a smile she could muster.

"You don't need to, you'd do the same." M'gann smiled at her.

"Maybe." Kara chuckled.

"Hmm." The Martian pouted, crossing her arms.

"Well, I'll leave you two alone." Helen took her leave.

"Thank you again, Dr Cho, we don't know what we'd have done without you." M'gann turned to her.

"Oh, it's nothing really." Helen chuckled. "Just be sure to stay in bed and you'll be fine."

Kara smiled in response and the doctor headed out of the room, closing the door quietly behind her. Entering the hall, she raised her brow as Kaldur sat outside, wondering why he wasn't inside as well. Shrugging it off, she walked on, leaving the Atlantean who frowned and leaned against the wall.

Stepping away from the bed, M'gann picked up the tablet Helen left on a counter nearby. "Man, you Kryptonians sure are strong." She chuckled, not noticing Kara frown slightly. "Three million nanites and you only look like you're coming back from a really bad cold."

"Well, you heard what she said; it was a miracle I survived."

"Yeah." M'gann placed the tablet down. "They said they were damaged during extraction, so we don't know what they were made for."

Kara sighed and turned over, her body stiffened by the unyielding numbness that flooded over. Every inch of her was manacled, even moving her thumb was a strain as she rested on her bed that seemingly felt like nothing was beneath her. She heard shuffling behind her, noting that M'gann had sat down – her breath slowing.

"Kara, what were you thinking?" The Martian waited for a response, receiving none. "You could've gotten yourself killed and if it weren't for Raven keeping me up with her laughing, I wouldn't have noticed you leaving." Her brows stitched as Kara remained motionless, sighing as she continued. "Something's bothering you, you can tell me."

Kara sifted her mind, frowning as she chose to remain silent, stiffly pulling her blanket over her shoulder and sinking into her pillow. Seeing that she wouldn't get an answer, M'gann got up quietly and left the room, seeing Kaldur waiting outside. Judging the look on her face, the Atlantean entered the ward, watching the Kryptonian lie in her bed.

"I heard that you've recovered. It's good to see you whole again." Kaldur moved up to her bedside.

"Well, I'm numb mostly." She struggled to turn. "Glad I don't have the impossible itch."

"Do not strain yourself, you do not want to induce haemorrhaging." He sat nearby.

"Yeah." She sunk into the bed and lay on her back. "What'd you wanna see me for?"

He paused, sifting his mind. "Your actions lately have been … questionable; you risked your life and your cover in one fell swoop and could get on SHIELD's bad side."

"M'gann already lectured me on that." She frowned. "I learned my lesson, the _really_ hard way."

"I'm not here to chastise you; I'm concerned. You've been closed off from everyone else and your nightmares are becoming more frequent." He noted her face harden as he spoke. "The last incident proved there was more to them; they weren't mere bad dreams." He leaned toward her. "What's going on, Kara?"

Her eyes darted around as she avoided his gaze, her lip twitching slightly as she fumbled through her thoughts. "It's nothing, Kaldur."

"It isn't." He frowned slightly then shifted back. "I'd spoken to M'gann about the Team's missions during my absence – she told me about your breakdown during a raid on a Hydra base in Las Dubai." His expression softened as he saw her turn sharply, noticing how much strain it put on her. "… You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." He stood up. "But you don't have to face this alone."

She glanced at him as he began to leave, sighing as he reached for the door handle. "Wait." She halted him. "There … I've been hiding something." He took a seat her beside, concerned as she pushed herself to sit up, raising a hand to stop him. Looking into his eyes, she sighed and shut her eyes, breathing in as she began to speak. "My home world was invaded by an alien called Brianiac, a destroyer of worlds. Minutes after his arrival, he killed thousands of our people and invested our planet with his technology that engulfed the planet. My father fought them off, taking my mother and I to a secret facility where we'd escape on a ship with my cousin's family." She sighed tremulously. "But it was too late … we were ambushed and my parents died trying to hold them off." She choked up. "They sacrificed themselves to save me."

"I'm sorry, Kara."

She sniffled. "I thought things would be different here, you know? I thought with these powers I could stop something like that from happening again, but I was wrong. He's back and I … I was just as helpless as I was back then." A tear ran down her cheek.

"What do you mean he's back? How do you know?" He raised his brow.

"People who're under his control have a frequency I can hear; I heard it with the Hydra soldiers. He's back, he's gonna kill us –,"

"And thought it wasn't wise to tell everyone about this?"

"I wasn't sure what to say, so I went to find out for myself and here's your answer." She gestured to herself.

"We need to alert Director Coulson and the others."

* * *

DICK FROWNED as he stared at his laptop, his fingers speeding over the keyboard as he read through files that ran down the monitor. Barbara worked on hers across from him, rubbing her nose as she battled sleep and turned over to him.

"You ever wonder if your face would get stuck like that?" She chuckled.

"What do you mean?"

"That Batman scowl you're always sporting – try lighting up a little."

"This is important, Barbara." His frown deepened.

"Okay, just saying." She raised her hands in defeat, turning back to her desk.

He read further into the files, his face lighting up when something caught his eye. "Hey, take a look at this."

"What is it?" She rolled her chair toward him.

"There's a virus that's been collecting tons of metadata from government servers around the world." He scrolled down the page. "Weapons caches, nuclear codes … there's a schematic of the missile silo in Area 51!"

"So, they were behind the sudden launch." Her eyes dilated.

"They could detonate every single nuclear warhead all over the world once it's done. We need to bring this to the Director."

* * *

"WE'VE ANALYSED the patterns the LexCorp virus has taken, but we're yet to discover the source." Phil addressed the Team, stepping back as documents appeared on the monitors. "We've scanned headquarters nationwide, but haven't found any matches. Whoever programmed it isn't in the company."

"So somebody's framing them?" Jaime raised his brow.

"It's highly unlikely." Kaldur frowned. "They must've kept it in a secret location so that it couldn't be traced back to them."

"Which is exactly why we're bringing more people in on this mission." Phil pocketed his hands.

"What? Why? We don't need any more members." Wally folded his arms. "I remember the mess we had when we had nearly twenty members. Twenty! Can you believe that BS? And Bumblebee? Heh, surprised we didn't get sued for that."

"Meta-criticism aside, the team we'll be adding will be taking a separate mission; finding and taking down the virus."

"What will our mission be?" Artemis' brows stitched.

"Your mission stays the same; find Hydra and take them down."

"And who're the people you're giving the other mission to anyway?" Connor leaned against the table.

"They're a SHIELD team much like yours, comprised mostly of high school students called the New Warriors led by Spider-Man. Due to the level of stealth needed for the mission, Ant-Man, an Avenger, will be joining the mission." Phil brought up documents from their previous missions.  
"Sounds like a much cooler mission." Wally sunk back in his chair.

"Your mission is still very important and we'll need all hands on deck if we wanna succeed." Phil turned to the screens. "With Kara's help, we were able to lock onto frequencies emitted by soldiers under Brianiac's control. Though we can't do a wide area scan because the frequency are so low, we were able to make short range scanners that can pinpoint them within a twelve metre radius." He brought up the frequency number onscreen.

"That's it!" The Scarab's voice echoed in Jaime's mind. "That's the frequency I picked up in Area 51. It came from the computers in the control room and in the missile silos. It was very low, even for a Kryptonian, but I detected it."

"Really?" Jaime raised his brow.

"Really what?" Phil turned to him.

"The Scarab said he detected that frequency during our mission in Area 51. He said it came from the control room and missile silos at a level even a Kryptonian would be unable to hear."

"How's that possible?" Kara frowned.

"That means Brainiac's behind the virus as well." Dick's eyes dilated.

"It could mean that Hydra, Lex Luthor and Brianiac are all working together on this. With MODOC being at the Hydra lab Kara raided, AIM's also involved. This's very bad." Phil stroked his chin. "We need to act quickly, but we need everyone to be mission ready before we can. Get some rest and prepare for our next mission; moving on Lex Luthor."

"Wait, I thought you said we shouldn't try to go near him." Barbara's brows stitched.

"I said let SHIELD handle it and we did – we have a way of taking him on without exposing ourselves." Phil crossed his arms.

* * *

"UH, DR Cello?" Wally peeped into the lab as he walked in slowly. "Hello?" He jerked back as he saw the scientist standing on the ceiling above, his clothes and hair flowing upward as if he were standing on the floor. "How're you doing that?"

"I defy gravity!" Dr Cello fell on his head.

Wally scoffed and shook his head, chuckling when he saw a double of the scientist standing on the ceiling. "How're you doing that!?"

"Physics cannot –," Dr Cello fell on himself.

Wally watched with his mouth agape, dumbfounded, as the two Dr Cellos helped themselves up and looked around nonchalantly. "How're you –,"

"Stanley Tucci!" The scientist pushed his double off camera.

Wally stammered. "Where did –,"

Dr Cello sat on a rocking chair across from him, wearing a rubber chicken on his head whilst smoking before fireplace. "Father, why do I still feel guilty? … hashtag, Marvel rules."

"How –,"

"She'll be coming 'round the mountain when she comes!" Dr Cello sung as he cut a hot knife with a slab of butter.

"Will you stop doing that!" Wally growled.

"You were saying?" Dr Cello apparated behind him, typing on a computer as if nothing happened.

"I." Wally huffed. "Wanted to try out the Cosmic Treadmill again."

"You sure? You nearly hurt yourself last time you did that." The scientist walked up to him.

"I was just a little out of it last time, but I'm prepared now." The teen nodded determinedly.

The scientist stared at him blankly, his whole body frozen in place as he stared unblinkingly into the distance. Wally waved his hand before his face, confused as he remained still. "… Excalibur, Excalibur!" Dr Cello danced around.

"Will you focus!"

"Okay, okay, I'm done." The scientist did the Can-Can dance, twirling over to the treadmill. He keyboarded on the computer nearby, looking at him eagerly. "Well, are you jumping on or not?"

Giving a drawn-out sigh, Wally walked onto the machine and stretched his arms – turning to the scientist who he began to second guess. The treadmill came on and he began jogging, quickly sprinting as his legs and arms quickly become blurs. Yellow lightning surged out of his body and he took a deep breath, focussing on charging his energy into the machine.

Wally's disappeared and reappeared in place, losing his balance and falling off the treadmill. Jerking back in shock, Dr Cello ran to his side, helping him up as he shook his head.

"What happened? You just disappeared." The scientist looked at him in a panic.

"I …" Wally rubbed his head. "I think I know where The Flash is."

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Welcome to the Universe! What has it been? Like three weeks? Sorry I took so long, but I thought I'd take a breather and focus on something else for a while.**

**I hope you enjoyed the chapter and I do again apologize that it's taken so long to progress. I'm juggling writing four stories at once and the ideas for new fics keep popping in our heads, so I can get a little scattered at times.**

**I'd like to ask, what DC fic do you think would be interesting? We have some ideas in the works, but I wondered what you guys would be interested in seeing us write. If you've got ideas, leave 'em in a review. If you wanna see more, read more, favourite or follow and Await the Awesomeness as we dive into the Universe. Thanks for reading.**


	5. Sentry

**SENTRY**

CAMERAS FLASHED as Lex Luthor took the stage before a sea of reporters in front of LexCorp Headquarters; the man clearing his throat as he looked around and began to speak. "Recently, we've experienced an upsurge in the number of attacks that have plagued this country. Following the events of the Dark Day months ago, a state of fear has spread. Terrorists have used that fear as an advantage to bring about chaos as they've attacked places like San Fransokyo, Las Dubai and many others. But that ends to today."

* * *

"IT ENDS with us when we refuse to succumb to their attacks and their threats to destroy all we've fought for as a nation. LexCorp was founded on peace and we will strive together to maintain it with relief efforts around the country and offering a hand to our military to strengthen security around our borders. Whoever those terrorists are, their days are numbered." Nightwing frowned as he shut off the feed from the tablet he held in hand, moving over to the next room in the Quinjet where Kid Flash, Aqualad, Artemis and Batgirl were, looking ahead at the pilot in the cockpit.

"Looks like Luthor's got the public fooled again with his campaigns for peace." Nightwing took a seat.

"Well, it will not be for long if we can expose his plans in Atlantis." Kaldur turned to him.

Nightwing nodded and went on comm. "Kara, what's your ETA from the next Hydra base?"

* * *

"WE'RE ABOUT four minutes out." The blonde sped through the skies, followed by M'gann, Blue Beetle and Raven as they soared over the skies above.

"Excellent." Nightwing's voice came. "Remember to only engage hostiles if you're spotted – the priority is to locate their bases so that we can launch a calculated attack on them later on."

"Relax, Robin, we'll keep ourselves in check." Kara smirked.

"It's Nightwing."

"Sure thing, Boy Wonder." She chuckled and went off comm.

"You think it's a smart move to get on his bad side, Kara?" M'gann flew beside her.

"He needs to ease up – there's no way we'd get spotted way up here." The Kryptonian turned to her. "We don't even need to go anywhere close to the ground since I can see far enough, so no worries."

"I think you should rethink that cuz we've gotta bogie!" Blue Beetle flew back.

"Huh?"

A missile flew past them and exploded, creating waves that rocked the four as they were nearly knocked out of the skies. M'gann shook her head and looked down, seeing three grey, ten foot tall, humanoid robots with yellow plated torsos with Hydra logos painted on their chests. "Oh crap, it's them."

"Okay, let's move!" Supergirl swooped down.

* * *

"YOU KNOW what? I think I hate swimming." Kid Flash looked around as he, Nightwing, Batgirl, Aqualad and Artemis swam over the deep blue ocean floor. "It's dark and no traction – it's hard to get any speed going."

"Well, it's nice to see you actually struggle for a change." Batgirl pulled out a small device from her pocket.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It's an even playing field." She clicked on its screen, bringing up a sonar reading.

"Well, at least they're some benefits of it." Kid Flash turned to Artemis, seeing her green scuba suit wrap around her body and accentuate her curves, bringing a grin to his face. "Yep, like what I'm seeing."

"Focus on the mission, Wally." Artemis swam onward.

"Eyes forward." He followed right behind her.

Shaking her head, Batgirl looked at the readings, raising her head to Nightwing who was ahead of her. "Atlantis is less than a knot away."

"Good."

"Remember to be careful as we proceed – this is not the peaceful realm my home was and we do not know what's in store for us once we arrive." Kaldur looked at them.

"I still think I'd keep on my toes with the normal Atlantis and its magic." Batgirl winced.

"Well, let's see what my first time there will be like." Artemis slowed down as she reached a rock, moving amongst the others. Kid Flash came up to her and cupped her ass. "Wally, not now!"

"Sorry, it's a great outfit." He moved back.

"Quiet, we don't wanna get spotted." Nightwing pulled up a pair of binoculars and surveyed the area, zooming in on the underwater city as he eyed the force field and buildings within. Looking to his right, he saw three underwater ships docked outside. "Got a visual on the LexCorp vehicles." He frowned. "Let's move."

The five moved toward the city and slowed down a few metres away, detecting movement near the barrier as a guard riding a seahorse patrolled nearby. Seeing him move away, they got closer and were stopped by Nightwing near the energy as he pulled out a device and scanned it.

"Just as I thought – there's a current of six hundred thousand watts. It must be a security measure."

"They must have increased their security after I escaped." Kaldur frowned.

"So, what now?" Artemis frowned.

"I will try something." Kaldur moved ahead of them and fished out his water bearers. Weaving a current through them, he held the hilts forward and charged at the force field, injecting water into it and parting his arms. The energy field surged slightly and parted as he spread his limbs, creating an opening. "Go now." He strained.

Giving him a quick nod, Nightwing, Kid Flash, Batgirl and Artemis jumped in, letting him quickly dive in and roll to his feet in the ceramic tiled alleyway. Moving up to the street, Nightwing looked around and saw a guard in the distance, stepping back to his friends. "Okay, we're clear." He pressed a button on his belt buckle, retracting his webbed shoes and drew his batons. "Let's get moving."

The five manoeuvred through the alley and hid behind buildings, reaching the end of the block and crossing the road as they continued onward. Kaldur looked around and turned to the others. "The palace shouldn't be too far now."

Nightwing turned to a corner and halted, turning to the street and seeing armed men roam the sidewalk. Kid Flash stopped and ran up to him. "Hey, what is it?"

"Those're LexCorp soldiers." He squinted as he got closer, seeing the company logo on their uniforms.

"Well, if they're here, then we'd easily be spotted." Batgirl walked up to them.

Kaldur jumped into the alley the others were in, pulling Artemis with him as he saw a soldier move passed. "We have to find a way to proceed without being detected."

Kid Flash looked around and grinned, seeing some Atlanteans nearby. "Oh, I have an idea."

* * *

BLUE BEETLE forged his arm into a sonic cannon, firing a beam at a Sentry that stepped out of the way and ran toward him. The heavy machine moved nimbly for its size, gears and pistons audibly clanging with its metal body as it transformed a gun of its own and shot him out of the sky with an orange burst. Raven surrounded the robot in energy and sent her hands to her right, slamming it against the dirt and flinging it forward.

The android flipped over in mid-air and crashed against the ground, grazing to a stop and thrust its fist against the rocks. A wave shot out of it, knocking Raven and Blue Beetle off their feet and sending dust into the air. Standing up, it aimed its cannon at them when it suddenly fell back, thrust by M'gann who pressed it against the earth.

The robot fired at her, sending her plummeting down and drawing Kara's attention and distracting her from another android that punched her, sending her flying back. Struggling to her feet, she looked at the others as they recuperated. "Skye, you got anything?" She went on comm.

"No, I can't seem to find a particular weak spot." Skye responded. "Guess you'll just have to keep hitting it hard."

"Yeah, but they hit harder." M'gann strained as she created a force field that blocked one of the robot's punches.

"Sat scans are detecting radiation coming off the robots – they must be powered by something nuclear and it's very volatile."

"Seriously?" Blue Beetle huffed as he shot toward an android.

"Whatever you do, you have to put them down now before they explode and cause fallout."

"What's the blast radius?" Supergirl frowned.

"Two and a half miles."

Supergirl looked around and huffed as she saw a city in the distance, pressing her earpiece. "We're only half a mile away from a city."

"Kara, you need to get those robots outta there in twenty minutes or the city's done for."

"Crap."

"In coming!" Blue Beetle jumped away from an energy blast.

Supergirl flew out of the way and fired lasers at the android, grazing against its arm as it shielded itself and ran toward her. She swooped down and punched it, breaking half its face off and causing it to recoil. It grabbed her midsection and slammed her on the ground, tossing her aside and blasting her in the chest.

M'gann shot toward a robot and smacked against its chest, receiving an electric shock as she was unable to phase through it. The android grabbed at her and she flew out of the way, elongating her arm and cracking it over its head. Clutching its chest, she smacked it on the ground and ascended into the air, bringing a force field upon it that pushed it against the rocks.

Blue Beetle fired two staples at an android and jerked back in surprise as it smacked them aside, retaliating with a sonic beam it rained down upon it. Raven enveloped the robot in energy and thrust her arms down, smashing it against the ground and cracking its back. The Sentry turned to her and shot a beam at her, knocking her aside and burning her cowl.

The girl groaned and pushed herself up, gasping as she realized her hood was destroyed and her changed skin was exposed. She looked around and spotted Blue Beetle who looked at her in surprise. "Raven?"

* * *

ARTEMIS RAISED her brow as she looked at her hands, frowning at the series of bracelets that wrapped around her arms and cloth that left her legs completely exposed. "I don't like this." She frowned.

"Well, it's no party for any of us, but we have to blend in to avoid suspicion." Nightwing pulled his hood over his face, huffing as his boots squeaked against the sidewalk.

"I kinda like it." Kid Flash looked at the gauntlet he wore with a grin.

"This feels wrong." Batgirl pulled at the thread of her bra, trying to cover her cleavage.

"Try to seem comfortable in your attire; we do not want to draw attention to ourselves." Kaldur quietened his voice as he led them toward an alley, looking around for onlookers as civilians walked past.

Moving up to a wall, Nightwing and Batgirl grappled their way up, Artemis firing a tethered, Kid Flash running up the structure and Aqualad drawing out his water-bearers and forging whips to pull himself up. The five entered the palace grounds and looked around, Nightwing throwing an electric Batarang into a guard and knocking him out.

"Let's move." He turned to the others.

* * *

A DART FLEW into a guard's neck and he fell over, quickly pulled away by Kid Flash as Aqualad, Artemis, Batgirl and Nightwing moved stealthily through the hall in the palace. Switching to infrared, Dick scanned the corridors ahead, nodding to the others as they moved onward.

Artemis adjusted her bow and adjusted the strap of her quiver. "Now this is better."

"Any outfit is hot on you, babe." Wally smirked and she hushed him, moving over to a corner and pressing her back against a wall.

Batgirl pulled up a small device, seeing enhanced sonar readings that spread throughout the building. "According to the scans, there's a large underground room that's heavily guarded – there must be something stored in there."

"Then let's go find it." Nightwing nodded.

"Okay, the entrance is under the east wing …" She read the scans. "Through a door to the right." She pointed at a wall.

"Uh, there's nothing there." Kid Flash raised his brow.

"That's what the scan says."

"Ooh, maybe it's a secret door." Artemis's face lit up.

"Alright, let's give it a crack." Kid Flash sped around it, rubbing his hand around every inch then appearing back to them. "Nothing – there's no secret button."

"It must be pressure sensitive." Nightwing walked up to him. "Try pushing at it."

Kid Flash zoomed about then stopped as he heard a clang. "Awesome."

Low rumbling met their ears as tiles on the wall slowly began to shift, creating an ovular shape as they moved around and fashioned a door. Bricks moved up and created an opening, tapering out into a hallway that went downward toward a dim light. Sharing cautious looks, the five entered the path and made their descent, Batgirl turning back and seeing the aperture close up and darken their way.

* * *

BLUE BEETLE'S eyes dilated in surprise upon seeing Raven's changed skin, his brows stitching as he moved up to her. "Raven, what happened?" The girl looked at him and sifted her mind for words, looking at her hands and clenching her fists.

"Uh, guys we need you to – whoa, Raven what happened?!" M'gann turned to them as she flew away from a Sentry.

"We don't have time to talk." Supergirl interrupted them. "Right now, we've gotta focus on taking these robots down!"

The blonde sped toward a Sentry with a powerful punch and it blocked the attack with its forearm, grazing against the dirt as she pushed it back and it quickly steadied itself. Smacking the appendage aside, she gave the android an uppercut that flung it back, lunging onto it and firing lasers at its chest. The robot got to its feet and fired a beam at her, knocking her out of the sky and it jumped up, grabbing her as she fell and smashing her down.

Raven raised her hands and summoned large boulders with her energy, levitating them high and crashing them down on the three robots. Getting to her feet, she clenched her fists and caused the rocks to explode, spraying the fractured bits around and stepping back as she caught her breath. Sparks met their ears as the Sentries pushed themselves up, their damaged bodies failing to impede them as they forged cannons from their arms and blasted at them rapidly.

The five evaded the onslaught and flew about in the air, M'gann summoning force fields to shield herself and Raven creating a wave that caught the blasts. "We have to take them down now!"

"I've got an idea!" Supergirl shot down and dove into the ground.

Burrowing through the dirt, the Kryptonian shot out behind an android and punched it down, turning to another that fired at her. She lifted the downed robot and shielded herself with its body, tossed it aside and fired lasers at it, screaming in rage as she powered the charge and knocked the machine down. The remaining Sentry shot at her and she sped out of the way at high speeds, hopping from place to place and tackled the robot, sending it bouncing off the ground.

"Whoa, remind me not to anger a Kryptonian." Blue Beetle jerked back as he watched her fight.

M'gann lifted a robot into the air and tossed it aside as it tried to fire at her, sending it to Raven who covered it in energy and folded it up. Breaking from the vice, the Sentry shot her down and plummeted, landing with a punch to the ground that created a shockwave that knocked Supergirl off her feet. M'gann flew down and enlarged her fist, grabbing the robot's legs and flipping it over her, smacking it down.

Blue Beetle fired two sonic beams on an android and created an energy cannon, unloading on the robot and creating an explosion that knocked him back slightly. The robot stood wobbly in a small crater, its chest fractured and fell to a knee; sparks surging through its body. Supergirl punched out another robot and Raven shot down the last one, downing the trio.

"What have you done!?" Daisy's voice came on comm.

"We took down those robots is what we did!" Blue Beetle smirked.

"But you've exposed the cores as well! You need to get them away from the city before they explode!"

M'gann turned to the robots and winced. "Yeah, that might be a problem." The Sentries rose to their feet and clenched their fists – their eyes glowing red as they stared down the Teammates.

* * *

AQUALAD'S TATTOOS came alight and illuminated their route as Artemis, Nightwing, Batgirl and Kid Flash followed him down and reached the bottom of the pathway. Entering a storage room, the five split up as a volley of energy fire came upon them as several guards engaged them. Kaldur drew out his water bearers and forged a shield with one hand, blocking a shot and created a whip with the other, smacking a guard away.

Artemis leapt behind a containment case, firing an arrow against the ceiling and creating a smoke cloud that enveloped the room. Blinding the guards in the smog, the Teammates donned goggles and switched to infrared, engaging their opponents. Artemis aimed at a soldier and shot a projectile that split into three and downed two other assailants.

Kid Flash zoomed through the room, punching out guards as they were overwhelmed by the assault, speeding up to one and tackling him, grabbing his legs and smacking him against a wall. Kaldur created two swords and attacked a guard, deflecting swings of his spear and cutting him down, flinging another into an attacker's chest. Nightwing and Batgirl sped through the haze, knocking down two guards with swift smacks of the batons and kicks and downing the remainder with electric Batarangs.

With the room cleared, Artemis looked around, seeing the fog settle and reveal several LexCorp containment units lain along the walls amongst high tech weaponry. Moving up to the end of the room, she walked up to a large metal door and drew her bow, firing an explosive arrow that punctured a hole through it. "Hey, we're supposed to be silent." Nightwing frowned.

"They already know we're here by now, so what's the point." She walked into the other room and her eyes dilated as she looked around, simultaneously draping her bow over herself. "Kaldur, you're gonna wanna see this."

Aqualad and the others entered the chamber and surveyed the room, frowning as he saw several paintings that showed ancient Atlantis, its fall and the modern world. Moving up to a large table at the centre of the room, he saw a map splayed atop of it that showed maps of the sea and fault lines around the world. He walked past the others as they inspected expanse, stepping up to a large vault with a small glass case he looked into.

"These're plans to cause earthquakes using LexCorp tech and attack major cities." Nightwing frowned. "He could decimate the whole world with this."

"And he has more than enough power to do so." Aqualad turned to him. "He has Aquaman's trident."

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Welcome to the Universe! Thanks to all of you who've waited, read, favourite and followed – it means a lot that you're still there. We apologize for the long hiatus – we'd been busy for the past month or so, but know that we're going to get back on track and move this story along. If you wanna see more, read more, favourite or follow and Await the Awesomeness as we dive into the Universe. Thanks for reading.**


	6. The Inside

**THE INSIDE**

ENGINES AND gears whined as the Sentries got to their feet, the damage inflicted upon them seemingly failing to slow them as they eyed Blue Beetle, Supergirl, M'gann and Raven. The Teammates stared the androids down in apprehension, wondering what they'd do next as they merely looked at them and clenched their fists.

"Man, how're we supposed to beat these guys?" Blue Beetle turned to Supergirl.

"We're making a dent, but we're not slowing them."

"Look, stopping them is no longer the priority – you need to get them away from the city or find a way to contain the blast." Daisy's voice came on com.

Supergirl sifted her mind and looked at the buildings in the distance, quickly pressing a button on her earpiece. "Daisy, what city is that?"

"New Jersey Oksaka."

"Great, then I can get some lead from one of the factories." Supergirl rose into the air, turning to the others. "Guys, try to hold 'em off."

"Us hold them off? Really?" Blue Beetle raised his brow.

"Just try until I can find a way to contain the blast." She flew off, moving over the Sentries who ran toward the other Teammates.

"Try to be quick, Kara – you only have six minutes before the meltdown begins." Daisy's voice came on com.

"I got this." She sped on.

* * *

AN OBESE blonde man rummaged through trash at a dump site, bending over and moving a tire aside as a slim raven-haired man looked around in disinterest. "You really think we can find anything here, Coop? We could be looking for hot babes or something."

"Trust me, Jamie, there's definitely something worth finding here." Coop opened the hood of a car.

"If you say so." Jamie pocketed his hands and looked around, seeing Supergirl zoom past in a red streak. "Whoa, man, did you see that?!"

"See what?" Coop turned to him.

"I dunno, but something just flew by just now!" Jamie's face lit up as he turned to him. "It was probably an alien robot."

Coop's eyes drooped and he continued searching. "Come on, man, there's no such thing as alien robots."

* * *

A SENTRY punched Raven in the face, sending her flying back and it stopped, turning to Blue Beetle and firing a beam into his gut. Crashing onto the ground, Blue Beetle shot a staple at the android, pinning it to the ground as Raven recuperated. Raising both arms, she poured energy over the robot and crushed it against the rocks, receiving a swift punch from another machine that hurled her back.

"Man, there's no way of taking these things down." Blue Beetle dodged a left hook from a robot and knocked it aside with a sonic beam. "Anybody got any ideas to contain the blast."

"Only Kara's." M'gann swerved away from a blast. "And she isn't back yet." She elongated her arm and smacked a robot aside.

A Sentry gave Blue Beetle an uppercut and looked around, turning to another robot. "Follow the blonde female." The other android nodded and flew off with rocket packs from its back.

"Wait a minute, they heard our plan?" Blue Beetle's eyes dilated.

"Oh my God!" M'gann placed her hands on her temples. "Kara!" She cursed. "She's out of range!"

"We need to stop it!" Raven raised an arm to shoot the Sentry down and another fired into her gut, flinging her back.

* * *

SUPERGIRL SMASHED through the roof of a manufacturing hall, drawing the attention of workers who looked at her in fear. "Kara, you're not supposed to blow your cover!" Daisy's voice rang in her ears.

"Well, I don't have time to be stealthy when lives are at stake." Supergirl looked at the various containment canisters using infrared vision, spotting one she couldn't see through. "Bingo." She smiled and swooped down.

Hovering over a canister, she reached to pick it when the Sentry flew in and tackled her, smashing her against a conveyer belt, sending its contents flying about. Workers around them ran off in a panic as the blonde pushed the machine off her and punched it away, flinging it onto a wall. The robot fired a beam at her and she sped out of the way, darting around and moving up to punch it when it countered, grabbing her wrist and punching her in the gut. She spat out blood and fell to her knee, coughing badly as the robot looked down at her.

* * *

"WE NEED to take this back to the Door; it'd help us prove Luthor's involvement with the attacks." Nightwing rolled up the paper outlining the plans when he heard footsteps.

"Your road ends here, intruders." Atuma entered the room with several soldiers. "Bringing yourself into the clutches of Atlantis' great vaults was your final mistake." He stamped his sceptre against the floor.

"We'll just have to see about that." Kid Flash grinned and sped toward the Atlantean, receiving a whack to the face.

"Kill them all!" Atuma ordered.

Kaldur wove a wall of water as the soldiers opened sonic cannon fire on them, allowing Artemis to fire a smoke arrow onto the ceiling. Going into infrared vision, the Teammates engaged the assailants, downing them as they were overwhelmed. Kaldur created twin blades and swung at Atuma who dodged him swiftly, grabbing his neck and looking him in the eye.

"Your theatrics will not work, imposter!" The Atlantean stabbed him in the gut and tossed him aside.

"Kaldur!" Batgirl screamed in horror.

Atuma hit his sceptre against the ground, creating a bright light that dispersed the mist. "Kill them all!"

Nightwing tossed four Batarangs, jamming them into the barrels of the soldiers' sonic cannons and causing them to explode. "We need to retreat!"

Kid Flash sped toward Atuma and threw three rapid punches, striking air as the Atlantean swerved away and grabbed his neck, tackling him with a kick to the ankle. Atuma stabbed at the man and he rolled out of the way, returning with a thunderous left hook that sent him stumbling back. Shaking his head, the Atlantean fired a bolt of lightning at Kid Flash, nearly hitting him as he ran off and let the jolt hit a wall behind him, the resultant wave knocking Nightwing and Artemis off their feet.

Aqualad winced as he pushed himself up, feeling blood coat his hand as he looked around in despair, seeing his friends being surrounded by the soldiers. He turned to the vault and frowned, grabbing his water bearer and summoning whip, smashing the door. Atuma turned upon hearing the crash, sending a bolt of lightning at the Atlantean who quickly pulled the trident from the chamber and blocked the attack, creating a cloud of smoke from the impact.

Aqualad struck the trident against the floor, emitting a bright light that cleared the room, revealing himself as he stood tall with water covering his wound. Frowning at the sight, Atuma fired lightning at the Atlantean who retaliated with one of his own – the two surges colliding and causing an explosion. The wave rocked the room and knocked everyone off their feet; the two Atlanteans standing unfazed in the middle of a crater that damaged the room.

"This farce ends here!" Atuma charged at him.

Atuma and Aqualad locked staffs at the centre of the room, engaging in fierce attacks as they swung at each other in rage. Atuma drove his sceptre at Aqualad who dodged and stabbed his arm, dislodging the trident and flinging him back with a palm thrust to the chest. Aqualad lunged at the Atlantean, javelining his weapon at him and Atuma struck in the midsection, countering with a downward swing that Aqualad blocked – the two combatants pushed back by the collision.

"Nightwing, we must retreat! Everyone, don your scuba gear!"

The Teammates nodded and fished out small discs, placing them on their chests and clothing themselves in their swimwear as Aqualad stared down Atuma. Aqualad struck the floor and the room rumbled, the walls cracking and shattering as water burst into the room and submerged them all. With his opponents fazed by the torrential wave, Aqualad thrust his trident forward and electrocuted the Atlanteans, allowing for him and the others to swim off.

* * *

SUPERGIRL HURLED through the wall of the factory, crashing onto a car in the parking lot and alarming a woman nearby who ran off upon seeing her and the Sentry. The android stepped out of the building and shot at her, making the vehicle explode as she was flung back and driven into the pavement. Pushing herself up, she stood wobbly and steadied herself, shaking her head and clenching her fists before her.

The machine lunged at her with a chop and she swerved to the side, punching it in the gut and causing it to stumble back. The robot pounded two fists at her back and she fell to her knee, gritting her teeth as the ground beneath her cracked. Grabbing the Sentry's torso, she shot high up into the air and crashed back down, crushing it into the ground.

Panting heavily, she fell to her knees and looked at the machine, seeing its eyes shut off. "Good God." She pushed herself to her feet and grabbed the plates of its chest, prying it open carefully and exposing its inner casing. A round metallic ball lay within the machine, emitting visible heat waves as cracks showed on the glass.

Lifting it gingerly, she sped into the factory and flew up to the canister, dripping the orb into the molten led. Pulling out the coated ball, she blew onto the mould, frosting it over and hardening it. She hovered back and moved to press her earpiece when she saw sparks fly out of the android, her eyes dilating in horror as she heard a whining sound.

She flew up to the machine and grabbed it quickly, shooting to the sky and tossing the robot into the air. The Sentry exploded and she clung to the lead covered ball in her hands, shielding it from the blast as bits of the destroyed android fell to the ground below.

Seeing people crowd around the factory, she went on com. "This's Supergirl." She panted. "Mission accomplished on my end."

"But not on ours!" Blue Beetle's voice came frantically.

* * *

M'GANN WINCED as a fallen Sentry's core was exposed before her, falling on her knees and shielding her face. "Too hot!"

"Don't get too close!" Blue Beetle swooped down and grabbed her, flying over to Raven who shot down another android. "What do we do now?" He set M'gann beside him as she hovered.

"We can't get over to the city in time before they explode." Raven frowned.

"You need to find a way to contain the blast." Daisy came on comm.

"It's too bad the Scarab can't transform into different types of metal." Blue Beetle crossed his arms. "We could use some lead right about now."

"Guys, I'm on the way right now!" Supergirl's voice came on their earpieces.

"There isn't enough time." Raven looked around.

"Then what do we do?" M'gann's eyes dilated in fear.

Raven looked at the machines below and looked at her hands, clenching her fists. "Stand back."

Hovering away from Blue Beetle and M'gann, Raven assumed the lotus position and levitated, shutting her eyes and the world around her as she calmed her breath. A purple aura exuded from her body and she focussed on the sounds coming from the robots, frowning slightly as they began to rise in pitch. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" She raised her arms before her and shot the energy out, creating a large circle up ahead that slowly began swirl around.

Sparks shot out from the machines and M'gann and Blue Beetle began to panic, turning to Raven who opened her eyes and radiated an aura from them. The Sentries exploded and the energy circle formed into a portal to a purple cloudy realm with debris floating around. A vacuum-like force came from the gateway, pulling the machines and the eruptions quickly into the other dimension, quickly closing in a wave that sent sand flying about.

"Whoa!" M'gann breathed heavily in excitement, turning to Raven. "What'd you do?"

"I sent them," She inhaled, "to another dimension – the radiation was absorbed as well."

"Awesome!" Blue Beetle's mask retracted. "Now all we need is for Team Alpha to return and we're good to go!"

* * *

AQUALAD SHOT down a guard as he, Kid Flash, Batgirl, Artemis and Nightwing ran out of the underground room and entered the halls of the palace. The Teammates moved toward a window when Batgirl suddenly fell behind, looking at her handheld device and drawing Nightwing's attention as he turned to her. "Barbara, we've gotta go!"

"Wait, I'm detecting radio frequencies that are popping up all over the building." She frowned as she looked at the readings.

"Well, that doesn't matter – we have to go before we're surrounded."

"No, wait, just listen." Batgirl held up her hand, silencing him as she looked around and heard a slight beeping noise.

"Hey, I think I hear something." Kid Flash scoped the hallway.

"What is that?" Aqualad raised his brow.

"It sounds like a bomb." Artemis ran up to a wall nearby, pressing her ear against it. "It's right here." She fished out an arrow and jammed it in, stepping back as it exploded and knocked the tile away, revealing a small bomb inside.

"Whoa, what's that doing there?" Kid Flash's brows stitched.

Batgirl moved closer and raised her device over the bomb, scanning it. "This bombs from LexCorp."

"LexCorp? But I thought he was working with Atuma."

"Unless he wants to cover his tracks and prevent exposure." Aqualad sifted his mind.

"How many are in the building?" Nightwing raised his brow.

"About ten and they're all gonna go off in about … thirty seconds."

"We need to move now!" Nightwing ran toward a nearby window.

* * *

THE TEAMMATES stood atop a building's roof as smoke billowed from the castle in the distance – civilians and soldiers in a frenzy as panic took the streets. Nightwing looked to his right and saw the LexCorp militia vacating the city, turning to his friends and nodding as they headed off the building.

* * *

"YES, WE'RE a minute out." Nightwing nodded and went off com, turning to Aqualad, Artemis, Kid Flash, M'gann, Batgirl, Supergirl, Raven and Blue Beetle. "That was a job well done, you guys; we stopped the nuke from happening and found proof of Lex Corps' involvement with Atlantis … or what's left of it anyways. With this," He lifted up large rolled up paper. "We can find concrete evidence that can put Luthor down for good."

"Yeah." Kid Flash looked around, removing his mask and sitting back. Exchanging looks with Artemis and the others, he huffed and leaned forward. "Okay, I didn't want to sound weird, but Raven, what happened to your skin?" He raised his brow.

"Is it some kind of spell or … shape-shifting?" Dick frowned slightly.

"Neither; this is what I really look like."

"What do you mean?" Jaime turned to her.

Raven took a deep breath. "This change happened because Trigon took the charm out of me and with it the power he'd given me which means that he can now attack at any time he wishes."

"Why didn't you bring this up earlier?" Nightwing leaned forward.

"I didn't know what was happening to me until three days ago; I wasn't even sure of what to say or how to say it." She looked to her lap. "I wasn't sure what any of you would think now that I'd suddenly changed outta nowhere."

M'gann shared a look with Kaldur then turned to Raven. "Rachel, when I first joined the Team, I kept my true form a secret from my Teammates for a long time and the thought of that secret being exposed was my biggest fear. But I was wrong. Showing them who I truly was helped me face my fears and now I have something I never had back on my home world; a family that cares about me. It's what's inside that truly matters."

"Thanks." Raven smiled.

The jet stopped and began to descend, drawing everyone's attention as they turned to the pilot. "We've arrived." The woman looked at them then spotted Raven. "Huh, finally decided to get a tan – looks good on you."

Kara snored loudly and jerked up, looking around drowsily. "Huh, what? Did I miss anything?" She blinked repeatedly.

* * *

THREE YELLOW lights illuminated a dark room as MODOC hovered before a large screen, his face solemn as he continued speaking. "The tests have reached the final stages; it won't be long before we can begin our plan."

"Good. Report back to me as soon as you've finished."

"Yes, Brainiac." MODOC nodded and the video went off, the lights of the room coming on as a man barged in.

"MODOC, we have an emergency." The soldier breathed heavily.

"What did I say about barging in!?"

"Sir, it's the Team."

* * *

NIGHTWING READ up specs on a tablet, turning to Aqualad, Supergirl, M'gann, Kid Flash, Superboy, Blue Beetle, Artemis, Raven and Batgirl who sat around in the Quinjet. "Alright guys, the next mission is a raid on a Hydra base in Michihong. Given the frequency levels Supergirl detected, expect there to be heavy defences. The focus is to retrieve as much data from the computers onsite and to take no hostages. Do not engage any Sentries alone and stay in your groups. Blue Beetle, M'gann, Raven, Superboy and Supergirl, you take out the outer defences and Batgirl, Artemis, Kid Flash and I will data mine the facility."

"Guess it's a good thing we had a few days off cuz these missions are happening a lot." Kid Flash adjusted his glove. "No rest for the weary."

"And no rest for those Hydra soldiers either." Superboy cracked his knuckles. "I've been waiting for this for a long time."

"We're twenty minutes out." The pilot turned to them from the cockpit.

"Alright guys, suit up." Nightwing turned to the others.

* * *

ARTEMIS TOOK a knee in a hallway and fired an arrow that sped on and split into several darts, downing multiple soldiers who sped toward her. Nightwing and Batgirl ran past her and drew their weapons, engaging guards that flooded in as Artemis drew another arrow and shot at the floor, sending an electric wave that electrocuted the assailants. Nightwing and Batgirl looked at each other in surprise and turned to her as she smirked, twirling an arrow.

"You're welcome."

* * *

"IT'S BEEN so long since I've been on field." Superboy crashed onto an assault vehicle's hood and hopped off, grabbing the bumper and tossing it onto soldiers up ahead. "It feels good."

"Well, you can thank me later, lil brother." Supergirl flew over him, speaking on com.

"I'm not your little brother!"

"Yeah, you're right; you're more of a niece." She landed before a group of soldiers and fired lasers at them downing them easily. She chuckled and dusted her hands. "Too easy." A soldier snuck up on her, ready to fire when he suddenly fell over.

"You need to be more careful." M'gann sent her arms to her right, tossing the militiaman aside and creating a force field that caught a volley of bullets coming her way, sending them back to the shooters on the ground. "They might have a gun powerful enough to hurt you."

"More like never." Supergirl chuckled.

"Hey, wanna see who's gonna take down the most soldiers?" Blue Beetle zoomed past her.

"Oh, you're on Jaime." She smirked and chased after him.

* * *

MODOC GROWLED as he watched live feeds of the Teammates raiding their base, quickly hovering back. "Initiate Deep Dive –,"

Kid Flash ran by and punched him, knocking him against a wall. "Not this time." He looked at him then jerked back. "Whoa, that's a big head."

"Well, let's see what that big head is up to." Nightwing walked up to the computer screen, inserting a flash drive and beginning to work on it.

Kid Flash looked around the room, taking in the workstations that filled the lab, his eyes focussing on large glass containment units that were empty. "Hey, what's in those things."

Nightwing's eyes darted around as he typed in codes and brought up documents on screen. "They're nanites – billions of them."

"Like the ones that nearly killed Kara?" Kid Flash raised his brow.

"Yeah." Nightwing turned to him. "And they're planning to release trillions of them in the atmosphere over Amersia."

* * *

**If you wanna see more, read more, favourite or follow and Await the Awesomeness as we dive into the Universe. Thanks for reading.**


	7. Friend of Foe

**FRIEND OR FOE**

NIGHTWING'S EYES dilated in terror as he looked at the specs on the computer, Kid Flash pulling his mask back as he frowned. "Wait a minute; they wanna put these things in the air? How'd we even stop them?"

"We're talking over hundreds of millions of casualties." Nightwing's eyes darted over the screen.

"Well, you have to try and stop it somehow!"

"I can't – there're several labs like this one all over Amersia." Nightwing turned to him.

"Well, you have to do something!"

"Yeah, yeah, I can download the locations for each of the labs and have SHIELD teams launch coordinated attacks." Nightwing went to work on the computer.

"You're too late, Nightwing – the Sentries are already here." MODOC smirked as he began to hover again.

Nightwing's brows stitched when Supergirl's voice came on com. "Guys, we need to get outta here now."

* * *

BLUE BEETLE fired a sonic beam on a Sentry to his left and punched another aside to his right, rising into the air and diving down with a heavy kick on an oncoming machine. Looking around, he created a cannon as four more came from all sides. "Damn, how many of these things are there?"

"Well, we don't need to find out. We've got what we came for, so get to the Quinjet and we'll come for you." Nightwing's voice came on com.

"Got it, Boy Wonder." Supergirl smirked and shot lasers at a robot below.

* * *

KID FLASH pressed his ears against the wall, frowning as he heard heavy footsteps in the hall. "They're almost on us!"

"I just need a couple more minutes." Nightwing keyboarded hastily.

"We don't have any!" Kid Flash's eyes widened in panic as he ignored him. The wall exploded behind him, knocking him off his feet and he quickly scrambled up, looking at a silhouette standing in the dust cloud. "Oh man."

Superboy stomped on a Sentry's head and turned to Nightwing. "Hey, what's taking ya?"

"Okay, I'm done." Nightwing pulled out his flash drive and ran past Kid Flash.

"I thought you said you needed a couple minutes."

"That's relative." Nightwing entered the hall, gaining a frown from him. "Now come on, you wanna stay behind and wait for more to come?" Kid Flash muttered to himself and followed him along with Superboy who punched an android aside.

* * *

"LEXCORP ANNOUNCED a partnership with Amersian weapons designer Milton Fine during an anti-terrorism conference that included ambassadors and heads of state from around the world." A BBC anchor-woman read on Nightwing's tablet – the video changing to Luthor speaking at a podium. "This deal is not only profitable for LexCorp, but for Amersia as a whole. With the rising rate in attacks on our soil, we need to join together to fight the threat to our country and our lives."

Nightwing cut the video off and turned to the others in the Quinjet who were recuperating from the mission. "Seems Luthor's just going on about this as if we're not making a dent in his plans." Supergirl turned to him.

"Well, that's about to change."

* * *

"LUTHOR'S HOLDING a conference in New Washington that will, according to him, mark the end of terror attacks across the globe." Dick brought up documents on a screen behind him as he addressed the Teammates. "Ambassadors and Heads of State from North and South Amersia, Afrisia and Eurostralia will be arriving to discuss coordinated strikes using weapons Milton Fine will be unveiling that night."

"So, he wants to increase his reach by having his weapons stockpiled around the world. He could very well cause wars and benefit from them without being traced back like what he did with Rhelesia."

"Which is why our mission is to infiltrate and find out what Luthor's plans are exactly before we make our next move." Dick turned to the screen, showing specs he'd gotten from the Hydra base. "The intel we'd gotten from our last operation's still being decrypted as we speak, but at least we have an idea of what his plan might be. If he's trying to get the ambassadors to do the distribution of those canisters so they'd slip past detection and detonate, we'd be there to stop it."

"So, what's the play?" Supergirl leaned on the table.

"Security's gonna be tight, so I'll need a small team to take this one. Artemis, Aqualad, Batgirl, KF and I will go and listen in on the discussions while Daisy runs tactical from the base. Once the conference is over, we'll return and I'll debrief before our next op."

"Well, it's been a very long time since I've been on one of these ops – get to wear more black." Kid Flash sat back and sent a smirk Artemis' way.

"So, what're we supposed to do here?" Supergirl raised her brow.

"You'll wait until we've collected enough intel for the next mission." Dick turned to her.

"But, at least let me go with you – I can help."

"We need people who'll draw less attention and the 'S' and cape aren't exactly stealthy."

"I could use a disguise."

"Do we have a problem?" He raised his brow.

"I have a problem with leaving one of your strongest players behind." She stood up. "I mean, what if one of those robots are there? You'd definitely need a powerhouse on the team."

"I'm pretty sure I've got that covered." Kid Flash gave a smug smile.

"Kara, this mission requires stealth and that's a strength you don't have." Dick walked up to her.

"But I could –,"

"This is not up for discussion." Dick interrupted her, turning to the others. "Meet at the loading bay in twenty minutes." He left the room.

M'gann watched as the others left, seeing Kara stewing in the middle of the room. Kaldur walked past her and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder, drawing a frown from M'gann as the blonde smacked it aside. Seeing the Atlantean leave the room, she walked up to her. "Uh, Kara, is something wrong?"

"No, I'm fine." She began to leave.

"Are you sure?"

"I said I'm fine." She frowned.

"You know we're still here for you – you don't need to shut us out if something's wrong." M'gann turned to her.

"I'm fine." Kara enunciated and headed out of the room, leaving M'gann standing worriedly.

* * *

THE SOUNDS of the city of New Washington moved in the wind that flowed through Artemis' hair as she stood on a rooftop and took in the scenery. Pulling up her goggles, she watched as motorcades drove through the streets below, the sidewalks packed with onlookers and reporters who headed for the conference building. She drew out a small rifle and fired at streetlights, lampposts and buildings nearby, leaving small devices that beeped quietly.

"Cameras are in place around the building." She went on com and packed the weapon, fishing out her bow. "Moving to rendezvous point." She shot a tethered arrow at a building behind the conference and slid across it.

"Good, Aqualad, Batgirl, you're up." Nightwing spoke in his earpiece.

* * *

A SPECIAL ops officer roamed through a hall in the conference building, walking past a waitress who pushed a food cart toward an elevator. A Batarang flew onto the wall near a security camera and beeped, allowing for Batgirl to enter the corridor and fire darts into the necks of the man and woman, knocking them out. Aqualad stepped in and picked up the man as Batgirl dragged the woman along, entering the janitor's closet nearby.

The two stepped out, having donned the attire and Batgirl took the cart, moving toward the elevator and putting in the floor number. Entering the platform, she went down to the basement and disembarked, moving over to a corner behind the gas main where she stepped back and pulled a laptop from underneath. Taking a seat, she opened the laptop and began keyboarding.

"Okay, Dick, you're good to go." She picked an orange cube and went on com.

"Good work, Batgirl." Nightwing responded.

"Would it be weird if I said that I miss Batman?"

"What? You're going soft on me, Babs?"

"Hey, don't be hard on me!" She frowned.

"I thought you liked it when I was hard on you."

"Really, Dick?"

"You know we can all hear you, right? And can you quit arguing and tell me when I'm coming in?" Kid Flash yelled on the other end.

"In the middle of our session?" Batgirl's voice came.

"Dude!"

* * *

"JUST STICK to the plan, KF." Nightwing whispered on com as he walked up to a security guard at the entrance of the building, pulling out an ID card.

The man received it and ran it through the machine, nodding as it beeped. "Welcome, Liaison to the Amersian Military Ethan Hunt."

Nightwing nodded and entered the foyer of the building, glancing around as he went on com. "Ethan Hunt, seriously?"

"What? I had only thirty minutes to create an alias." Batgirl spoke with her mouth full.

* * *

"WELL, THIRTY minutes should be enough time." Nightwing's voice grew angry in her earpiece. "And are you eating on the job?"

"I'm dressed as a maid and I'm not gonna be delivering this to anyone, so why should I let it go to waste?" She bit into a shrimp.

"Hey, leave some for me." Kid Flash came on the other end.

"Well, see if you can make it here in time." She keyboarded and hit 'enter'. "Alright, you're clear."

* * *

"FINALLY." KID Flash stood in an alley behind the building disguised as a janitor and smirked as the light above the back door came on.

Moving through the hallways, he nodded to a couple of other janitors and headed for the elevator, going to the upper floors. Disembarking it, he walked toward a camera blind spot and sped around in place, going into his gear and placed his mop bucket in a closet. Zooming through different floors of the building, he placed small devices on the cameras, making sure to evade security guards and staff.

"The cameras are now in a loop." He went on com.

"Perfect, now we can simply watch as it begins." Nightwing responded.

* * *

WIND WHOOSHED past Batgirl as he grabbed a glass and a bottle from her, taking a seat nearby. "No alcohol on the job." He poured himself some.

"What about you then?" She raised her brow.

"Heightened metabolism." He took a sip.

"Is this what you could leave for me? Honestly?" Artemis picked the nearly empty shrimp platter and sat down.

"Picked you something on the way here." Kid Flash handed her a beer.

"Love ya, babe." She pecked him on the cheek.

"Hey, I thought you said no alcohol!" Batgirl pouted.

"Will you stop yelling in my ears!?" Nightwing whispered on com.

"Ooh, Milton Fine's on." Artemis leaned toward the laptop set atop the cart. "And he is fine."

"Really?" Kid Flash raised his brow. "That's the best you could come up with?"

"Shush!" Batgirl grabbed the wine from him, slurping loudly as she turned to the video feed.

* * *

MILTON FINE, a man of average height clad in a suit stood on stage before a sea of dignitaries seated at different tables, moving up to the microphone as he began to speak: "In the many years I've worked in the weapon's industry, one thing has reigned true: you achieve more when you work with others. This is a time when the world is consumed by war and terror and what's sorely needed is unity." He lifted up a flash drive. "In these flash drives are directives for coordinated attacks on terrorist camps discovered in the past few months. If approved, LexCorp will aid all the nations present in initiating the first steps in eradicating the threat of terror." He nodded to a man nearby who gestured for others to hand the drives around. "Let us begin with –," An aide walked up to him and whispered in his ear. "What?"

Aqualad frowned as he stood in the corner of the room, posing as a guard who watched over the proceedings. "What's going on?" He glanced at Nightwing who sat at a table across from him.

* * *

BATGIRL'S BROWS stitched as she watched Milton speak to his aide in a slight panic. "Something's wrong."

"Guys, cameras have detected movement on the east side of the building." Artemis held a small device up to Batgirl.

Keyboarding hastily, Batgirl pulled up a video feed of soldiers opening fire on a woman clad in a black hoody and jeans near some bushes. The woman shielded herself from the onslaught and punched a man aside, revealing her face to the cameras. "Kara?"

* * *

"WHAT DID you just say?" Nightwing went com.

"Kara's fighting some guards on the west side of the building." Batgirl responded.

"Dammit." He glanced around, seeing that nobody had heard him. "Abort mission, repeat abort mission." He groaned and rose to his feet, glancing at Aqualad who looked at him then began to walk away.

Stepping away from his table, Nightwing moved past a security guard and flashed his ID, heading into the hallways. Moving past an elevator, he began unbuttoning his shirt and muttered angrily to himself, quickly followed by Aqualad who removed his jacket. "What about the conference?"

"Surveillance should be able to pick up enough intel for us." Nightwing disrobed his coat. "Best not to be here in case they apprehend Kara." He frowned.

"Guys, surveillance cameras in the conference halls just went down." Batgirl's voice came.

"What?" Nightwing halted.

"I just lost the signal and I can't get 'em back online."

"What is going on here?" Aqualad frowned when gunshots echoed.

"Were those gunshots?" Batgirl came on com.

Nightwing looked around as they echoed again. "We've gotta move."

* * *

NIGHTWING AND Aqualad ran into the conference room in disguise, met with shock as they looked around in confusion. Billows of smoke and sparks sprayed out all over as the dignitaries lay dead over the tables and on the floor. Moving through the carnage, the two investigated as the corpses each had bullet wounds while others had burn marks. Nightwing walked up to a man and studied his head, seeing several veins popping out.

"Uh, guys, what happened?" Kid Flash voice came on com.

"Everyone's dead in the conference hall." Nightwing frowned.

"What?"

"Looks like the scene of a shootout."

"Any signs of who did this?" Batgirl asked.

"No."

"But Luthor isn't here." Aqualad looked to the stage, staring at the seat of the man in question.

Milton groaned as he came two on the platform, rubbing his head groggily as he looked around and gasped in shock at the horrid sight. "Wha-what happened here?!"

"Mr Fine, are you alright?" Nightwing ran toward him, followed by Aqualad as they got onto the stage.

"I, I think so." He grunted and held his bloodied arm.

"Do you remember anything that happened here, sir?" Nightwing helped him up.

"There were gunshots and –," Milton gasped and jerked back in shock, alarming Nightwing and Aqualad who looked in the direction he was facing.

Kara hovered in the centre of the room, her tattered clothes revealing bits of the leotard underneath as she moved forward, her eyes set straight ahead. She stared Milton down and frowned, her eyes glowing red as she focussed on him when a bright light came from behind her. Helicopter propellers echoed and footsteps invaded her ears as soldiers burst into the room. She looked to the podium, seeing Nightwing and Aqualad had gone and she sifted her mind.

"Open fire!" A soldier commanded.

Shielding her face from the bullets, she flew up and broke through the ceiling, leaving the soldiers looking around in confusion. Moving past the corpses, the militia came to Milton's side and offered him assistance as medics surrounded him and tended to his wounds. Kara flew over the conference building and saw several reporters outside, zooming through the skies and leaving the area.

* * *

"KARA DID what?" Batgirl raised her brow as she took a seat in the Quinjet.

"How's that even possible? Didn't we leave her back at the Door?" Kid Flash's face exuded confusion.

"Perhaps she left without our knowledge." Aqualad removed his jacket.

"But if she wanted to accompany us on the mission so badly, couldn't she have just pinpointed us with infrared vision or something and just came to us?" Artemis sat back.

"I need to speak to her." Nightwing frowned.

* * *

"WHAT THE hell was that!?" Dick stood before Kara in the briefing room, surrounded by the Teammates who sat at the table. "You disobeyed orders, jeopardized the mission and nearly exposed yourself."

"I can explain –,"

"And why did you try to kill Milton? He's a public figure and most likely a pawn to Lex's schemes and –,"

"He isn't!" Kara frowned and shook her head, pacing around slightly as she crossed her arms. "He isn't who he says he is."

"Then who is he?" Kaldur turned to her.

"He's Brainiac."

"What?" Wally raised his brow.

"How is he Brainiac?" Connor crossed his arms.

"Isn't he supposed to be some Darth Vader alien guy?" Jaime sat back.

"No, he's Brainiac and I'd sensed him the moment he came on the news." Kara turned to Dick.

"Then why didn't you tell us earlier?"

"Because I needed to be sure, I couldn't just attack him like that."

"Like you just did?" Wally gave a smug look.

"Wait, how is he possibly on earth? Doesn't he destroy worlds? What would he gain by pretending to be a human?" Raven leaned against the table.

"Among many of his powers, Brainiac is a shape-shifter and Milton Fine must be his alias on earth – I just don't know what he's doing here." Kara looked to the others.

"Kara, what you did was dangerous and reckless." Dick turned to her. "You nearly ruined the whole operation in one fell swoop –,"

"He destroyed my home planet and took my family away from me! I couldn't let that happen."

"But if you'd told us, we could've come up with a better plan – maybe bring in these … Avengers and they could help us stop him." Dick frowned.

"There's no _way_ of stopping him."

"Then what was your plan supposed to be tonight?"

"I don't know." She rubbed her forehead and huffed. "I really do not know what to do now that I know he's here, he … he seemed less of a threat when we dealt with his pawns – I never really thought I'd actually be confronting him." She began to tear up.

"So, your plan was to merely throw everything aside." Kaldur stood up. "You were going to sacrifice yourself."

"I don't know." Tears rolled down her cheek. "I don't know what to do about him." She wiped her face. "I still feel like my powers are worthless against him, like-like I'm just that little helpless girl back on Krypton."

"But you're not, Kara." Kaldur walked up to her. "You have us, you have the Team and we're by your side."

"Hey, we did take down the War World and the Reach and saved the world – we're gonna do it again." Dick smirked.

"You don't understand – Brainiac is way worse than anything you've ever seen –,"

"Then let us face him together." Kaldur placed a hand on her shoulder. "Whether we lose or not, let's do it as a Team."

Kara looked into his hopeful eyes and sniffled, shaking her head slightly. "You don't understand."

"I don't need to; all I know is that we will defeat him together."

"Yeah, show a bit more faith in the team, mi amigo! We can do this." Jaime smirked and crossed his arms.

Kara gazed around the room, looking at each of her friends though her head still shook. "I." She inhaled. "I don't know I just … okay, if Brainiac's here; there's no running from it. I can't run from it."  
"You won't need to." Kaldur gave her a reassuring smile.

"Okay." She nodded slightly.

Dick looked at his watch and turned to the others. "Well, it's been a long night. Let's get some rest and we'll meet tomorrow." He headed out of the room, moving past Kara who wiped her face and glanced at Kaldur as she left.

* * *

"THERE ONCE was a fish without a head. He was a great thinker and wore many hats!" Dr Cello bellowed as he fried eggs in the kitchen in the morning. "And he had _many_ beards! He would always roast his _hair_!"

Wally shook his head as the scientist hit higher notes, moving past Cher who read a comic book in the living room and took a seat. He turned on the TV, munching on cereal as he tuned through the stations, stopping on the morning news.

"We now go to footage to the attack on the conference last night." An anchor man read the report and brought a video of Kara flying around and firing lasers on the dignitaries in the building and attacking soldiers.

"What the hell?"

* * *

**If you wanna see more, read more, favourite or follow and Await the Awesomeness as we dive into the Universe. Thanks for reading.**


	8. Battleground

**BATTLEGROUND**

SOUNDS OF people chattering filled the briefing room as Phil, Daisy, Mac and the Teammates watched the news in the morning. The camera moved over the decimated parking lot of the conference building, taking in the destroyed vehicles and shattered pavement then moving to the building itself. A massive hole was in the front wall of the edifice, its edges heavily burnt and the interior harrowed in a similar way.

"This is bad, this is really bad." Phil crossed his arms.

"Are you sure that's all that happened?" Daisy turned to Kara.

"Yes; the most damage I'd done was when I'd flown through the ceiling that hole wasn't there." Kara frowned.

"Well, you coulda fooled us – this is over all over the news." Mac gestured to the screen. "How would they have set this up in one night without anybody noticing?"

"We don't know, but we can vouch for Kara; the most extensive damage was to the ceiling and the shrapnel in the walls." Dick turned to him.

"Lex Luthor must've been behind this somehow, I mean, _all_ this happened when the security cameras all went down – nobody truly saw what happened in the room before Dick and Kaldur went back in." Barbara leaned against the table.

"Well, there's no real way we can mitigate the situation as it is, but we can be sure that this is working in Luthor's favour. With the world only seeing the aftermath they've created, they'll be able to launch their attacks around the globe simultaneously." Phil stroked his chin when alarms blared and red lights flashed. "What's that?"

"It's the Brainiac frequency alarm." Daisy typed on the holographic keyboard on the table, bringing up satellite scans of Los Seoul onscreen. "Oh man."

"What is it?" Phil turned to her.

"There's a massive spike in the frequency on Los Seoul's outskirts, just six miles away from the door." She walked up to the screen as several red dots appeared. "This is the largest we've ever seen."

"Then that's definitely Hydra."

"They're trying to attack the city." Mac frowned.

"Alright, Team, suit up!" Nightwing rose to his feet.

"Wait, before you go, Dr Cello and I have been working on gear that could protect you from the nanites after the incident with Kara." Cher and the scientist entered the room.

"We call them Exo-Membranes, body armour that emits a low frequency EMP that'd short out the nanites before they can reach you." Dr Cello handed Nightwing a small disc. "Just put it on your chest and keep it on at all times. Obviously we haven't tested 'em on the field before, but the titanium infused into the inner layers of the body suit should keep you safe still."

Raising his brow, Nightwing placed the device on his chest, releasing thin black material with red vertical lines that covered his entire body, reaching up to his neck. "Whoa, cool."

"Don't forget this." Cher handed him a helmet. "The visor's made of reinforced, ait-tight glass with a digital interface with thermal imaging and all sorts of neat stuff you'd find interesting."

"Nice." Nightwing received the helmet and turned to the others. "Alright guys, suit up."

* * *

NIGHTWING FROWNED as he looked out the window, seeing the sky come to view as the Quinjet rose out of the Door and flew onward. Looking up specs on his tablet, he turned to the others. "Okay, from the intel we obtained there should be about sixteen Hydra labs all over the world making these nanites that re gonna be released into the atmosphere. Given that the frequency's been detected outside Los Seoul, we'll have to assume this'll be the first of their attacks. Our priority is to shut down the machines without causing damage that'd result in a spontaneous release. SHIELD support should arrive in about twenty minutes and the Avengers are being contacted as we speak. Let's make sure at all costs that we have the situation contained before then. ETA's in ten minutes, so be prepared."

Nodding in agreement, the Teammates checked their gear and began suiting up; Supergirl donning her helmet and knocking on the visor. She took a deep breath and looked at her hand, seeing them shake and trying to steady them by making a fist. "Relax, Kara, you'll be fine."

"Of course, you will; we're all in this even if that Brainiac guy's there too." M'gann sent a confident smile her way. "We're not gonna lose."

"You're right – let's do this." Supergirl frowned determinedly then shuffled in her seat. "Is it just me, or is my suit a lil snug?"

"Probably cuz Cher made it for ya." Kid Flash pointed at her chest.

"Huh?" She looked down and huffed, seeing a 'C' in the middle of her 'S' shield.

Raven looked at her hand in amusement as the fabric spread over her body, smiling to herself and turning to Jaime who sat back across from her and slurped a drink through a straw, clad in normal clothing. "Uh, aren't you gonna suit up?"

"No need; the Scarab is all the protection I need." He sat back and she raised her brow. "That's not what I meant – get your head out of the gutter."

"If you say so." She smirked and donned her helmet.

* * *

WIND GATHERED as the Quinjet made its descent, landing slowly on a path of grass in an open portion of a forest; its hanger doors opening as it went into stealth mode. Looking around cautiously, M'gann, Aqualad, Blue Beetle, Superboy, Artemis, Batgirl, Raven, Kid Flash and Supergirl disembarked and walked onward, taking in their surroundings as they readied themselves for battle. Nightwing went into infrared vision and looked around, turning to Aqualad who winced slightly as he held the trident tightly.

"Hey, you sure you're ready for this?"

"As I'll ever be – there's no reason to sit this one out because of a minor injury." Aqualad frowned determinedly. "Let's send these Hydra soldiers packing."

Nightwing nodded and gestured for the others to move on, fishing out his batons and slamming them together to form his staff. Supergirl pushed some bushes aside and looked around, shutting her eyes as she listened to the sounds around her, nodding and calling the others to her side. Manoeuvring through the forest, the Teammates moved toward a clearing and stopped in the bushes, looking at its centre as they heard footsteps.

Nightwing surveyed the area, seeing tanks and jeeps patrolling a wire fence that encompassed a large camp in the clearing. Supergirl squinted as she surveyed the grounds, looking passed the wall and seeing several Hydra soldiers clad in heavy armour with jetpacks and gauntlets moving around an enclosure surrounding a large domical machine with cylinders jutting out of its roof.

"I've got my eyes on the machine." Supergirl spoke through their telepathic link. "The nanites are in there, but they're inactive."

"Then we need to secure the machine. Team, let's move out!"  
The heroes spread out, alarming the soldiers manning the gate who opened fire on them as they engaged. Supergirl shot lasers down at them and flew over the camp, firing at the militiamen on the ground as she headed for the machine. A mechanised cannon shot a beam at her, knocking her out of the sky and in the middle of a cluster of soldiers.

Superboy broke through the gate and lunged into the field, smashing onto a tank and ripping its cannon off, tossing it onto a soldier who shot at him from behind. Raven rose into the air and held her hands out, summoning two tanks into the air and crashing them onto militiamen below. Running through the carnage, Kid Flash sped past clouds of sand and bullets whizzing through the air, leaping over a tank and punching out a soldier before him.

Artemis walked calmly through the battle as she watched the others fight, drawing an arrow and firing it up ahead, splitting it into a volley that downed several soldiers. A soldier fired a beam at Blue Beetle as he landed and he dodged the blast, shooting a staple onto him and pinning him to a fence to his left. Batgirl hovered over the camp and descended toward a group of soldiers, throwing Batarangs that electrocuted them and landing on one with a kick to the chest.

Nightwing smacked a soldier aside with his staff and tossed a ball onto a tank to his right, blowing it up as he ran up to an assailant and smacked him upside the head. Aqualad fired a series of lightning bolts at soldiers around him, smacking the trident on the ground and summoning geysers underneath three jeeps that sent them airborne. M'gann stood in the middle of a cluster of soldiers, tossing them around with three arms and shielding her face from gunfire. Retracting the extra limb, she clasped her head and sent a psychic wave that knocked out six oncoming soldiers.

* * *

SUPERGIRL LOCKED fists with the Sentry in the enclosure around the nanite machine, glancing back as she saw lights coming alight on it, wincing as the android began to push her down. Breaking out of the grip, she gave the robot an uppercut, flinging it back and fired a laser into its chest, crashing it against the ground. The Sentry rose to its feet and ran toward her when Superboy lunged onto it, driving its head through the ground and punching it in the back.

"Nice save." She panted.

"Well, can't let you have all the fun." He stood up and walked toward her. "Is that it?"

"Yeah, but you can't underestimate those Sentries – bet they're several of 'em here." She wiped her forehead.

"Nah, just a bunch of soldiers out front."

"What? Why'd they only have one here – look out!" She pushed him out of the way as the Sentry fired a beam at her, striking the wall near the nanite machine. "We need to keep the machine from being damaged."

"I'm on it!" Superboy lunged at the android and it smacked him into the air, stalking toward Supergirl.

Firing lasers into the android's chest, the Kryptonian flew up and punched the robot, crashing it through the wall and tossing it onto a tank that exploded on impact. Shielding her face from the flames, she watched in anger as the machine stood up slowly, unfazed by the attack and aiming a cannon at her. She rose into the air when lightning struck the Sentry from behind, flinging it onto the fence nearby.

"Whoa!" Supergirl looked around, turning to Aqualad who trained his trident at the Sentry.

"I told you, you're not facing this alone."

"Together then!"

The Kryptonian and Atlantean unloaded on the Sentry, combining the lightning and lasers into a powerful beam that caused an explosion that sent the android flying back. The robot rose stiffly from the smoke, defying the damage sustained as it shorted out and smoke came from it. It aimed a cannon at them and Artemis fired into its chest, coating its core in lead and causing it to shut down.

"Huh, don't know what you guys said was so tough about the thing." She twirled an arrow and smirked.

"Guys, how's it looking like outside?" Supergirl spoke through the telepathic link.

"Man, these soldiers don't know when to quit! They just keep coming!" Kid Flash responded.

"Hold on, I'm coming."

"Guys, we have a situation here." Daisy's voice came on com.

* * *

"WE'VE JUST got word of seismic activity happening at the centre of Los Seoul – it's not an earthquake." Daisy pulled up surveillance footage and mag scans of the city as she looked at the screens in the room. "Whatever it is, it's rising out of the ground like a drill."

* * *

"WE HAVEN'T secured the nanite machine yet." Nightwing responded as he punched a soldier out.

"Someone needs to go check this out cuz the city's being ripped apart." Daisy came on com. "SHIELD teams are about two minutes out from your location – they'll take it up from there."

"Supergirl –,"

"I'm on my way." She flew past him.

* * *

SCREAMS AND car alarms filled the air as the earth rumbled and a panic took the streets; a stampede forming as people ran from a large crack that formed in the middle of the road. Fissures ran through the ground and up the walls of surrounding buildings as rocks plummeted into a widening chasm that swallowed vehicles and streetlamps. People looked on in terror as a large, black ship immerged from the ground, standing tall over buildings and casting a shadow that nearly blocked out the sun from their eyes.

The two hundred and sixty foot tall spacecraft stood in the shape of a skull, having three orbs on its forehead forming a triangle, red eyes and tentacles spreading out and digging into the road, sidewalk and breaking into buildings on both ends of the street. Supergirl hovered before the terrible sight, her fingers twitching and her lips quivering as the screams of the people of Krypton echoed in her ears.

"No … no, it can't be." She breathed shakily, her body manacled by fear as it shivered down her spine. "We're too late."

"Oh my God, it's Maveth." Daisy's voice came on com.

"No, Brainiac." Kara's head shook slowly, her lips thinning as she bared her teeth in anger. "No, I won't let this happen again!"

She shot toward the ship at high speeds, creating a sonic boom and smashed through its underside, tackling a humanoid being out from the other end and driving it through the road. The creature smacked her aside with a mere flick of the wrist, hurling her through a car and onto a building's wall, causing her to fall to her knees painfully. The Kryptonian breathed heavily as she pushed herself up, coughing as she fought the pain and stood as the being walked toward her.

Standing around eight feet tall, Brainiac, a blue skinned being was garbed in black armour with steel plating around his shoulders and chest with gauntlets and heavy boots – his cold yellow eyes striking fear into her as three grey orbs in a triangular formation glowed dimly on his forehead. "Kryptonian. Even in this vastly altered reality, you still remain a scourge to my being; a thorn in my side. Though I have lost much of my power, my ascension is inevitable just as the destruction of your world is inevitable. I will harvest every iota of intelligence the Terrans have on the change of the universe then I will absorb this planet as I once did to the insignificant Krypton."

"No, that's not gonna happen." Kara winced.

"You defy me? Complete despair will be the last thing you feel before I bring you to your end."

Supergirl shot toward Brainiac and punched him in the gut, sending out a shockwave that cracked the ground beneath them, leaving the Coluan unfazed. Grabbing her wrist, he tossed her to the ground and kicked her, causing her to bounce off the pavement and smash onto a wall. Tossing aside falling debris, she fired lasers at him and dove forward with a left hook, managing to push him back as his feet grazed against the ground. Clutching her head, he flung her forward and blasted her with beams from his forehead, driving her into the pavement and onto a nearby building.

Rubble pelted the side walk as Supergirl rose to her feet wobbly, pain radiating through every inch of her body as she pushed the bricks aside and moved forward with a limp – blood flowing from her mouth and staining her suit that was burnt on her left arm and stomach. Looking at her with disinterest, Brainiac turned around headed down the street, watching as police cars massed around him and officers spread out. Ascending into the air, the Coluan raised his arm, sending out a wave that caused the policemen and buildings nearby to fizzle and turn into binary code, disintegrating and vanishing into the air.

Kara's eyes dilated in horror as she watched Brainiac decimate the street, tears stinging them as she screamed with rage and released a burst of blue energy from her body, shooting towards him and landing a thunderous left hook that sent a shockwave that flipped cars over and shattered windows of nearby buildings, flinging the Coluan onto the upper floor of a skyscraper. She flew above him and fired lasers into his chest, driving him further into the edifice and destroying the building. Rising to his feet, Brainiac held the beam back and stretched his free arm out, smashing Supergirl onto the road below and moving debris off his back.

He cracked his neck and looked down at the fallen Kryptonian, jumping down and landing with a heavy boot that sent rocks flying and crashing onto nearby vehicles. The dust settled slowly, revealing a crater as Kara lay motionlessly in a heap of rubble, her suit ripped apart and her face bruised as blood flowed down to her chest. He stepped off her and lifted her by her collar, the orbs on his forehead beginning to glow brightly when low beeps drew his attention, pulling his focus to his ship.

"I don't have time for this." He tossed her limp body aside and ascended into the air, moving over the street and rising to his ship.

* * *

KID FLASH punched out a soldier and turned to the sky as wind gathered, seeing four Quinjets descend onto the campgrounds. "Sure took you long enough."

"It doesn't matter now; what does is securing the nanite machine." Nightwing walked past him, manoeuvring through unconscious soldiers as he moved up to a SHIELD agent who disembarked one of the ships. "Where're the Avengers?"

"Sorry, but this'll all you got – Captain America and Black Widow are investigating moles in the government and the others are scattered all over the globe. We're spread too thin."

"Well, that's great." Nightwing huffed.

"So, what's the situation?" The soldier walked with him.

"We've just took down Hydra's defences and secured the nanite machine. It's isn't active yet, but we haven't found a way to shut it down without causing damage." Nightwing sheathed his batons as he lead him into the enclosure and stood before the machine.

"Then the safest option's to take it to a secure location offsite – if we can't deactivate it, we can contain the nanites inside."

"Good – update when you get done." Nightwing walked off as the agent called others to his side.

M'gann manoeuvred through the cluster of SHIELD ops and walked up to him, rubbing her arm as worry etched on her face. "Hey, any word from Kara?"

"She's still in the city, but we haven't heard anything." He went on com. "Kara? Kara? What's going on?"

She raised her brow as she heard the SHIELD op murmur in a panic "What's going on?"

"The machine's activating itself." A man turned to her.

"Can you stop it?" She ran up to him.

"No, it's blocking out any commands we key in."

"Then we need to evacuate right –," Low whines met their ears as the cylinders on the dome began to rote, releasing small clouds as gears began to turn and lights flickered around the machine. Nightwing zoomed in on the puffs of gas, seeing several microscopic robots fly out and fill the air. "The nanites are being released! We have to evacuate now!"

A panic spread through the enclosure in the camp as the SHIELD ops raced toward the gate, each of them freezing in place as the clouds formed a mist that engulfed them and filled the grounds. Nightwing and M'gann squinted as they looked around, scanning the area around through their visors as they saw the men and women around them slowly stop moving and raise their heads to the sky, halting uniformly. Blue nodes spread over their skin as they fought for breath, gasping as their pupils fell into their skulls and they fell silent.

"No." M'gann held her hands before her in fear as she looked around.

Nightwing frowned as he used X-Ray vision on a woman nearby, seeing her heart beating slowly. "They're still alive, but their vitals have slowed down."

"Guys, what's your status?" Daisy's voice came on com.

"We weren't able to stop the nanite machine and the SHIELD ops have been contaminated. They're still alive, but we don't know what's happening."

"Dammit. Can you stop the machine or slow it down."

"No, they've already been released." Nightwing raised his head to the sky. "We have to abort the mission. Get the city evacuated and call the Avengers."

* * *

CAR HORNS blared all around as vehicles stood at a standstill all over Los Seoul and civilians looked on in fear as Brainiac's ship knocked military jets out of the sky and the cloud spread over the city. Sparks fizzled out of an earpiece as the sounds of chaos echoed all around Kara, the blonde laying still in a heap as Nightwing's voice came to her.

"Kara! Kara!"

* * *

**If you wanna see more, read more, favourite or follow and Await the Awesomeness as we dive into the Universe. Thanks for reading.**


	9. Brainiac

**BRAINIAC**

"KARA! KARA!" Nightwing's voice echoed dully in Supergirl's mind as she sunk into the abyssal void, the sounds of screams and sirens swirling in a cacophony as she clawed out to the bright light.

Prying her eyes open, the Kryptonian fought through the numbing pain as she pushed herself up, the world around her sending shivers down her spine as she rose to her feet. Hundreds of people stood around her like statues, their heads held up as they littered the streets soullessly. She moved through the maze, frowning as she saw blue nodes run up their skin, turning to the horizon as she saw Brainiac's ship dig its tentacles into the sky.

She tried to run and winced, holding her arm as she was covered in bruises when she heard M'gann's voice come from behind her. "Kara!"

"Guys, you –," Supergirl gritted her teeth she felt a pang hit her shoulder. "You need to get outta here."

Kid Flash skidded to a stop and gasped as he saw the giant spacecraft, pushing his helmet back as he turned to her. "Is that …?"

"Brainiac." She frowned and looked around as Raven, Batgirl, Artemis, Nightwing, Superboy, Blue Beetle, Aqualad and Nightwing arrived. "You need to get outta here."

"Kara, you can barely stand; you need our help." Aqualad walked up to her.

"You're gonna die if you stay here."

"Not if we've got anything to say about it." Kid Flash cracked his knuckles.

"So, how're we gonna save these people before the nanites kill them?" Batgirl looked around as she moved toward Nightwing.

"They must be connected to that ship somehow – it must be how Brainiac's gonna kill everyone." Nightwing frowned.

"If that's the case, why hasn't he done it already?" Artemis raised her brow.

"He's copying people's minds; he said he wanted all our knowledge on the changed universe before he destroys earth." Supergirl rubbed her shoulder.

"Wait, if even _he_ isn't behind the changed universe, who is?" Raven raised her brow.

"That doesn't matter right now; what does is taking him down before he kills everyone here." Nightwing drew his batons.

"No, don't fight him; you'll get yourselves killed." Supergirl recoiled.

"You're hurt, Kara – we'll handle this." M'gann held her shoulder.

"You need to head back to the Door." Nightwing turned to her.

"I just need some sunlight then I'll be fine."

"Okay, I'll take her up while you guys fight Brainiac." M'gann held Supergirl by her waist, draping her arm over her shoulder. "You ready?" She received a weak nod and flew up to the sky with her.

Watching the two women leave, Nightwing turned to the ship. "Okay, guys, this guy's very powerful, so we shouldn't attack him head on. Flank him from all sides and try to overwhelm him long enough so I can blow up the ship."

"So, play keep away basically." Kid Flash raised his brow.

"I'm okay with that idea." Artemis fished out an arrow, adjusting it on her bow.

"Let's move!" Nightwing ran onward.

* * *

M'GANN ROSE above the clouds and shielded her face from the bright sunlight, smiling as Supergirl moved forward on her own and hovered in the sky. Soaking in the rays, the Kryptonian took a deep breath and stretched out, letting her wounds slowly heal themselves. Opening her eyes, she frowned and looked at the 'C' on her chest, ripping off the Exo-Membrane suit and letting her cape float behind her, releasing a burst of blue energy from her body.

* * *

BLUE BEETLE rose into the air and transformed his arm into a giant chainsaw, diving down and slicing a tentacle as the Teammates manoeuvred through the ship's defences. A tentacle came down on Superboy and he grabbed it, his feet grazing against the sidewalk as it pushed him back and slammed him against a building. Batgirl grappled onto the ship and landed atop the end of a tentacle, placing a bomb onto it and hopped off, letting it explode and dismember the appendage.

Aqualad slammed his trident against the road, summoning geysers that destroyed the tentacles and rocked the ship, drawing the attention of Brainiac who was attached to the ship via cables connected to his forehead in the cockpit. Ripping the cords out, he looked around and frowned as the Teammates converged on him, walking up to the bridge and awaiting them.

Raven chanted a spell and held her hands out, creating a vacuum beside the Coluan who stamped his foot on the floor, defying the pull of the void. Brainiac shot her and Blue Beetle down with beams from his forehead, sidestepping as Kid Flash dashed toward him with a punch and grabbed the boy, tossing him to the street below. Kid Flash looked around frantically as he plummeted, grabbing onto wires from a damaged tentacle and swinging to a building in the nick of time.

Brainiac frowned and jumped down to the road, raising several rocks in a shockwave that sent the Teammates and vehicles flying about. Superboy leapt into the air and dove down toward the Coluan with a thunderous punch, getting grabbed by his arm and tossed onto a car nearby. Aqualad shot lightning at Brainiac, knocking him to a knee and giving an opening to Raven who blanketed him in energy.

Breaking through the entrapment, he fired lasers at Aqualad and Raven, turning around and quickly grabbing an arrow sent by Artemis who frowned as it beeped. The projectile exploded, creating a flare that blinded the Coluan, allowing Blue Beetle to swoop down and tackle him. Blue Beetle quickly got up and blasted him with a sonic beam, driving him into the ground and getting knocked back by the resultant explosion.

Nightwing and Batgirl watched the battle from afar, nodding to each other and grappling onto the ship, reaching the cockpit. Hearing the two tamper with the vessel, Brainiac shot into the air, firing lasers at the Teammates and flew toward the spacecraft, stretching his arm out to smash the intruders. Seeing the fist come down on them, Nightwing grabbed Batgirl and leapt off the ship, grappling onto a building nearby.

Brainiac looked around and saw the heroes struggle to their feet, a frown etching on his face as he moved into the cockpit. "I don't have time for this."

He reconnected himself to the ship and his eyes flashed, causing the cockpit to close up, leaving the heroes looking around in confusion. Rising to his feet, Nightwing scanned the ship with infrared vision, cursing to himself as the Coluan continued uninterrupted. He picked up his staff from the ground when he heard a crash coming from the other end of the street, sharing a look of worry with Batgirl and running toward the source of the sound.

Aqualad, Blue Beetle and Raven shielded their faces as a cloud of dust slowly dissipated, their eyes dilating in fear as three Brainiacs rose out of a crater, each perfectly identical as they stepped out and eyed the Teammates. Running into the street, Nightwing and Batgirl jerked back in shock at the sight, drawing their weapons .

"Ah, you've gotta be kidding me!" Blue Beetle whined.

"Well, this just got worse." Artemis circled around the Brainiacs from afar, drawing her brow.

Kid Flash zoomed out of the building and got to the street, skidding to a stop upon seeing the clones. "Oh, crap."

"Man, where're the Kryptonians when you need 'em?" Blue Beetle transformed his arm into a cannon.

Screams and cries met their ears and they turned to the street up ahead, seeing the once still civilians riving in agony as they went on their knees and clawed at the ground – blood oozing from their noses and mouths as veins appeared on their heads and the nodes glowed dimly. "I thought Kara said Brainiac wasn't gonna kill them." Kid Flash watched in horror.

"We couldn't have expected him to keep his promises." Nightwing frowned.

"We have to destroy the ship now!" Aqualad shot lightning at a clone who smacked the surge aside, receiving a laser beam to the chest.

The Teammates engaged the replicas, each unloading on them and getting countered as they fought back. Kid Flash sped around a double, creating a small tornado and levitating it into the air, giving it an uppercut that sent it flying off. M'gann descended from the sky and caught the clone telekinetically, spinning it and tossing it to Supergirl who dove down with a punch, crashing it onto the street.

"Oh, well look who decided to show up." Kid Flash frowned and jumped back as the cloned fired a laser at him.

"Sorry, the healing process took a lil longer than I hoped." Supergirl shot toward a Brainiac clone that ran toward Artemis, kicking it in the head and downing it. "Huh, these are weaker than him."

"Supergirl, you need to get him out of that ship and stop him from killing those people!" Nightwing ran up to her.

"On it."

Supergirl sped toward the spacecraft with a sonic boom, swerving around a tentacle that grew out and shooting it down with laser vision. Bursting through the vessel, she flew into the cockpit and threw a punch at Brainiac who dodged the attack and grabbed her wrist, tossing her forward. She rolled to her feet and fired lasers at him, colliding with his as he countered and deflected the blast, resulting in a small wave that pushed her back slightly.

"What the?" She looked at her hand in surprise.

"You cannot defeat me in my ship and you very well cannot destroy it." He walked toward her and frowned. "You will die."

Supergirl screamed as a sharp ringing noise blared in her ears, causing her to fall to her knees and clasp her head in pain. She bled slowly and balled up in agony, tears stinging her eyes as her body was bombarded by the unrelenting waves. Stepping away from the woman, Brainiac stepped back in his pod, pressing his hands on pads as the cables connected to him glowed slightly.

* * *

AQUALAD SWUNG his trident twice at the first clone who dodged swiftly, continuing the attack with a lightning strike that it deflected, receiving a smack in the face that knocked him aside. Superboy lunged onto the second double with a punch and it tossed him away, firing lasers at Artemis who jumped out of the way. M'gann punched the third Brainiac replica, sending it crashing onto a building and shot towards it, getting an uppercut that sent her flying.

Kid Flash ran up to the second replica, dropkicking it and sped around, landing rapid punches to its midsection, failing to make it budge. The clone grabbed his head and tossed him onto Aqualad, flying toward Superboy and punching him in the gut, flinging him onto a truck, causing it to explode. Nightwing and Batgirl watched the battle from afar, placing small devices on the bottom floor of an abandoned building.

"Alright, now!" Nightwing pressed his earpiece.

Exchanging nods, Raven and M'gann rose into the air, the Martian levitating a Brainiac clone while Raven sent the other two toward the building with her energy. The replicas broke out of their vices, firing the two women down as they crashed on the ground and smacked the other heroes aside. Superboy crashed onto the road and tackled a Brainiac clone, driving him into the tar and tossing him toward the building.

The clone shot him down, not noticing Nightwing who flipped over him and tossed a black disc on its chest. Rockets fired out of the disc and pushed the replica toward the building. M'gann rose to her feet and sent a wave at the remaining two clones, knocking them over as Raven joined her, blasting them with energy. The two sent lasers their way and Kid Flash zoomed past them, putting pipes behind them that made them slip over and get driven into the abandoned building.

Nightwing jumped behind a car and fished out a small device. "Everyone take cover!"

He clicked on the detonator and the building's lower floor exploded. Its walls crumbled as the edifice fell, a sea of debris rising in its wake as it engulfed the streets and sped toward the Teammates. Kid Flash, Aqualad, Superboy and Artemis leapt behind vehicles for cover while Raven, Blue Beetle and M'gann shielded themselves with their energy.

Nightwing pried his eyes open as silence set in, lifting his head above his cement covered vehicle as he and the others looked at the building which now stood as a heap of rubble. Kid Flash squinted and sped toward the wreckage, scanning the area in the infrared spectrum and turned to the others.

"There's no heat sig."

"What?" M'gann swooped down, her brow raised.

"I scanned the place and I can't see anything." He walked toward the others as they converged on him.

Raven raised her hands and an aura exuded from them. "He's right, there's nothing there."

"I can't track his frequency. Our plan didn't work." Nightwing frowned and tossed the detonator aside.

"How is that possible." Aqualad studied the debris.

"So, what now?" Superboy groaned.

"I don't know."

Artemis moved closer to the ruins and her brows stitched. "Um, guys, did you hear that?"

"Something's coming." Superboy stepped back as he tensed up.

The Teammates readied themselves as bricks and metal began to shift around in the debris heap. A hand shot up and clung to a rock, pulling itself up and revealing a replica of Superboy rise out of the wreckage. The heroes watched in horror as exact doubles of them came up before them, each staring them down as they had their exact weapons.

"Oh, come on!" Blue Beetle whined.

"Well, this just got interesting." Artemis clung to her bow as she looked at her double. "I'm pretty sexy though."

"And I ain't half bad." Kid Flash smirked.

"Um, a doomsday alien just turned into our doubles! Could you be a little bit more seri – oh, hello." Batgirl spotted her clone and grinned.

"Prepare to die." Aqualad's clone shot a lightning bolt at them, hitting the road instead and raising a thick cloud as they leapt out of the way.

Batgirl ran through the haze and jumped toward Artemis, giving her a roundhouse kick that knocked her against a car. "Barbara, what the hell? It's me!" The blonde pulled her mask back.

"Oh, sorry, I thought you were –,"

Artemis fired an electric arrow at her, knocking her out and ran into the smoke. Aqualad moved through the cloud hastily, his trident trained out as he walked and stopped quickly as he saw his clone. He ran toward the replica and fired lightning at it, missing completely as Batgirl tossed a Batarang into his shoulder that exploded and knocked him aside.

"Don't hurt my friend." She stepped up to him then stroked her chin. "I think … Is that you?"

"Brainiac is playing tricks on our minds. It's best we stuck to each other and avoided our doubles." Aqualad pushed himself up and she nodded.

M'gann hovered in the air and clung to her head as she looked around. "I can't tell the difference between any of them; it's as if they're exact doubles." She huffed. "And Wally's still thinking about how hot Artemis looks."

"And here comes a clone." Raven charged energy through her hands as another M'gann flew toward them.

"Don't listen to her, she's an imposter!" The second M'gann yelled.

"Huh?"

Superboy lunged onto the first M'gann and drove her toward the ground, leaving Raven who collided with the second Martian. Superboy slammed Ms Martian against the road and looked to his left as Blue Beetle fought Artemis who kicked him aside and Kid Flash sped up to another Kid Flash and punched each other out.

"What's going on here?" His eyes squinted when another Blue Beetle shot him from behind.

Raven hurled through the air and steadied herself as M'gann flew toward her. She touched her lip and frowned as she saw blood on her fingers. Clenching her fist, she fired an energy blast at the Martian knocking her onto a far off building. She looked at the ground and sifted through the chaos as Aqualad walked beside a Batgirl who stabbed a Batarang into his back and Nightwing watched the battle from a distance.

"I need to end this."

Taking a deep breath, she took the lotus position and shut her eyes, chanting a spell as a dim aura rose from her body. M'gann slowly roused and stood in the middle of a trench, looking around as the clones' bodies exuded the same energy from them. Nightwing glanced behind him and kicked his clone away, turning around and seeing the others face the imposters.

"I've put a magic marker on the clones! We can fight them head on now!" Raven descended to the ground amongst the Teammates.

"As if that matters." Aqualad's clone frowned.

"We will stop you." M'gann frowned as she rubbed her shoulder.

"It's too late; we've already won." Her double smirked.

"Oh no." Kid Flash's eyes dilated in fear as he looked at the ship.

"Kara." Raven's face fell.

Three orbs appeared on Aqualad's clone's forehead and he shot the Teammates down, unable to hit Kid Flash and Raven who quickly dodged the blasts. The clones shared a look and nodded, turning into binary code and disappearing. Raven looked to the downed friends and huffed, turning to Kid Flash who panted nearby.

"They're still alive."

"Yeah, but we need to get to Kara." He caught his breath. "Man, I don't think I've had to catch my breath before."

"Come on!" Raven flew past him.

* * *

SUPERGIRL LAY in a heap in the cockpit of Brainiac's ship, the Coluan's imposing form standing before her within his chamber as the tubes glowed dimly. A holographic screen appeared before him showing a live feed of Raven and Kid Flash approaching the ship. He frowned and dismissed the footage.

"Your world will fall, Kryptonian. With this attack, the world will unite under the aegis of Lex Corp and my virus will spread. The humans will see you as the true destroyers and I will make the image they will remember. You have lost." A thunderclap echoed in the distance and he frowned as he looked around. "The cloud cover is insufficient for lightning. What is that?"

* * *

RAVEN AND Kid Flash halted as they looked to the skies, seeing no clouds around nor signs of lightning. "Am I the only one who heard that?" Kid Flash's brow rose.

"There was lightni –," A bright light interrupted her and she shielded her face.

A portal opened before the two and a red streak shot out, breaking the sound barrier as it sped toward the ship. Sharing looks of confusion, the two looked to the spacecraft. "What was that?" Kid Flash squinted.

* * *

THE WALL of the spacecraft's cockpit exploded as the blur shot through it and hit Brainiac, smashing him out of the ship and onto crashed him onto the street below. Feeling the fresh air and sunlight come through, Supergirl gasped sharply and roused. She coughed heavily and rose to her feet, pushing herself forward as she saw a hole in the wall before her.

Seeing a cloud of dust in the road, she dove down to the street and hovered toward it, gasping as she saw the man who stood before it. "Kal!"

Superman turned to her and grinned, his body covered in bruises clad with a tattered cape and dirt as he stood before Brainiac who lay in a crater. "Kara, didn't expect to see you here."

"Kal, I've missed you!" She embraced him then pulled back. "Where've you been?"

"I –,"

"Was about to die!" Brainiac rose to his feet, charging lasers at them.

"Hold on a minute." Superman smirked.

Superman shot toward Brainiac with a thunderous left hook that sent him skidding down the road and upheaving tar. The Coluan grabbed him and hurled him at a building to his left, landing atop him with a boot to the face. Supergirl fired lasers at Brainiac and he deflected them, blasting her with beams of his own.

Superman punched Brainiac off him, sending him airborne and shot after him. The two rose high into the skies above and collided with a bang that caused a shockwave. Serving around each other, they struck each other and Superman pounded his fists onto Brainiac's back. The Coluan plummeted to the earth and Supergirl flew up to him with a kick that sent him back to Superman.

The Coluan grabbed the Kryptonian, spun him around and tossed him downward. Firing a massive beam, he blasted Superman and Supergirl to the ground below and caused a large explosion. The dust settled and Brainiac capitalized, zooming down and landing with a heavy boot that sent rocks flying about.

Kid Flash ran past him with a punch and Raven fired energy balls at him. Brainiac looked at the two, unfazed, and leapt toward Raven, giving her a backhand that slammed her onto the road. Kid Flash sped up a building, his body exuding electricity as he blasted up into the air and shot toward the Coluan. Brainiac saw him coming and hovered back, avoiding his punch and elbowed him back to the street below.

Superman rose to his feet and shook his head, clenching his fist and shot Brainiac down with laser vision. He flew up and tackled the Coluan as he fell toward a building, punching him rapidly in the gut then grabbed his leg and flung him onto his spacecraft. Brainiac crashed into his ship's cockpit and it exploded on impact, raising a billow of smoke.

Superman flew toward Brainiac and the Coluan grabbed his neck. Clutching the Kryptonian, Brainiac tossed him onto the road and blasted lasers into his chest. Superman fell back in a heap and Brainiac jumped down, picking up his limp body and charging energy through his orbs, aimed straight at his head. Kid Flash struggled to his feet and saw the Kryptonian in peril, quickly speeding off.

"I would follow your friend's lead, Kryptonian, you are all finished." Brainiac turned to Supergirl who slowly roused. "When my plan comes to fruition, earth will be destroyed."

Kara's eyes dilated in terror as she saw her cousin fighting to break free from the vice grip. "No, stop!"

"I've killed millions of Kryptonians when I destroyed Krypton yet all you send to defend earth is a measly few? Your ineptitude precedes you."

"Please, don't kill him!" Tears welled up in Kara's eyes.

"Witness despair."

Brainiac charged his orbs when the earth rumbled and causing him to stop. Rocks and bits of glass around him slowly levitated and the tremor came once more, causing the Coluan to turn around in confusion. A sonic boom echoed in the distance and windows of buildings nearby shattered as Kid Flash shot up to Brainiac and punched him in the jaw, sending him flying through three cars and a truck and smashing onto a building at the end of the street in a shockwave that knocked Superman and Supergirl off their feet.

Superman shook his head as he rose to his feet and looked at the carnage as Brainiac lay at the bottom of a building. "Whoa!"  
"What'd you do?" Supergirl turned to Kid Flash.

"I built momentum by running around the world and hit him with a super charged sonic punch – took a lot outta me." He huffed.

"Well, do it again, but hold the charge this time." Superman turned to Brainiac.

"What're you gonna do?" Kid Flash's brow rose.

"Improvise!" Superman flew toward Brainiac.

Kid Flash took a running man stance and glanced behind him as Supergirl joined Superman. Charging electricity through his body, he shut his eyes and opened them, releasing a burst of power as he sped off. Cars flipped over in his wake and the road broke apart.

* * *

MERIDA'S EYES thinned as she drew her bow and aimed at a dear. Clutching to her arrow nearly fired when Wally sped past her and knocked her off her feet. Scrambling up, she looked and the animal run off, turning around and seeing a line of trees collapsed around her. "What the hell?"

* * *

"MAN, THAT mission was easy." Natsu grinned as he walked down the street. "It's as if he was moving in slow motion."

"Well, we have sharp reflexes, nothing gets past us." Erza smirked when Wally zoomed past them, causing her to go off balance as her hair became frizzy.

"Except for whatever the hell that was." Lucy went out cold.

"It's a lightning!" Happy flew in the direction Wally went.

"Get back here!" Erza grabbed his tail.

* * *

WAVES OF red and yellow charged around him as he ran in a wave of lightning across the ocean. The waters parted, creating a small wave as he sped toward a coast. Running in the Severed city, Kid Flash zoomed toward the ship, speeding past the frozen civilians and his Teammates as he moved up to Brainiac.

The Coluan grabbed Superman and Supergirl with outstretched arms, smashing them against buildings on either side of the street. Retracting his limbs, he turned around and went right into Kid Flash's fist that burrowed right into his chest. The resultant wave shattered windows around them and destroyed the road around them. Charging all the built up energy into his fist, Kid Flash vibrated his arm at a high frequency that sent tremors through the road.

Kid Flash screamed with rage as his body released a blinding light. Brainiac's skin ripped apart as it disintegrated and whisked in the air as energy burst out of him. A large explosion knocked Kid Flash back, sending out a wave that smashed him onto a car and knocked him out cold.

The spacecraft shut down, collapsing back and crashing into a building that toppled onto a street. The frozen civilians roused and took sharp breaths as the nodes disappeared from their skin. Supergirl and Superman struggled to their feet and looked on as a large smoking crater stood before them.

"Wally!" Supergirl flew toward him, lifting his limp body as it fizzled with electricity.

Artemis entered the street and gasped as she saw Wally lie in Kara's arms. "Oh my God, what happened?"

"He used a lot of the speed force to take down Brainiac." Clark's brows stitched.

Artemis knelt before Wally, her eyes filled with tears as she looked at his bruised body. "Wally …" She growled and grabbed him by his collar. "Wake up, you bastard! If you die, I'll kill you!"

"Uh, I don't think that's how it works, babe." His voice came weakly as he grunted.

"Don't scare me like that." She clung to him tightly.

* * *

"LAST CHRISTMAS, the League and I found ourselves in the Kryptonian inter-dimensional prison called the Phantom Zone. We didn't know how we got there and we fought our way through all the intergalactic criminals we found there. Batman, Dr Adam Strange and Felicity Smoak found schematics for a portal created by a man called Kisuke Urahara which we tried to use to escape, but it malfunctioned and I was the only one who got sucked into the portal." Superman stood before Phil, Daisy, Dr Cello, Cher, Mac and the Teammates in the Door's briefing room. "We need to find him in order to save them from there."

"Did you say Urahara? I met the guy." Dr Cello chuckled. "The guy looked like he walked right out of an anime."

"Wait, you mean those monster fighting geishas? Why does this world keep getting weirder?" Daisy raised her brow.

"Well, whoever this Kisuke is, he's definitely someone we need to find. We've tracking him for a few months since he hacked into SHIELD databases last year – he's a valued target." Phil sifted his mind. "Alright, let's go save the Justice League."

* * *

BINARY CODE and pixels floated around Brainiac in an empty void as he roused and looked around. He frowned as he searched the plain when a low, heavy voice echoed around him. "Just as the constant increase of Entropy is the basic law of the universe, so it is the basic law of life to struggle against Entropy. Humans, such fascinating creatures, aren't they?"

"Who are you?" Brainiac frowned as he turned around.

Pixels collected before the Coluan, forming a large, silver android with red eyes. "My name is Ultron. Let's talk business."

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thanks to everyone who's been reading this book for the past few months. I know it's taken a while, but we've finally finished it and hopefully things can get back to the regular weekly updates we used to have.**

**For anybody who didn't know, the RealDone Universe is a fanfiction of the Marvel Cinematic Universe as a whole, so every fic we write is connected to a larger story and are grouped in arcs like the movie phases. Currently, we're in arc three and are gonna get things rolling with the sequel of this book called Justice League: Rogue in which we cover the time the League spend in the Phantom Zone and what they've been going through over there. We're really excited about that and we hope you are too.**

**If you're interested in our little project, please check out our profile page to see our timeline and get started. Thanks for reading.**


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